While the government is now moving to modernize the Philippine rice industry to keep up with the increasing population and effects of climate change, the Department of Agriculture (DA) should lobby on investing in major rice-producing provinces to boost production and ensure stable supply in the market, a farming expert said.
William Dar, former agriculture secretary and current president of Inanglupa Movement, Inc., said if the Duterte administration wanted to achieve rice self-sufficiency, it should also invest heavily in the country’s top 10 rice-producing provinces, to adequately feed the increasing population, and compete well with its counterparts in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), particularly Thailand and Vietnam.
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