Department of Agriculture's planting program exceeds targets

MANILA, Philippines -- THE DEPARTMENT of Agriculture says it has exceeded planting targets for its quick turnaround planting scheme in Visayas and Mindanao by more than 11,000 hectares.

It said a total of 99,217 hectares have been planted to palay since the program started on Aug. 1, exceeding the target of 88,174 hectares.

The QTA scheme was implemented to mitigate the impact of the prolonged dry spell on rice harvest in certain regions in Luzon.

According to the DA, these QTA areas are expected to yield about 300,000 metric tons of rice.
With more areas planted under the QTA, the projected rice production could even reach as much as 350,000 metric tons, thus helping the government achieve its 2007 full-year target palay production of 16.23 million metric tons.

The department said it was confident that rice supply would be enough for the whole year, given the additional harvests from the QTA areas and the current buffer stocks in the warehouses of the National Food Authority.

According to data from the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani Rice Program, Region 12 led the QTA planting with 33,858 ha; followed by Region 10 with 13,604 ha; and Region 6 with 12,043 ha.
The QTA scheme uses early-maturing seeds in fully irrigated areas to recoup lost rice output due to dry spell damages.