The Department of Agriculture will hold the Barangay Profiling Survey on Agricultural Crops with special emphasis on regional planning for the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani Rice Program in Negros Occidental starting February 28.

The Office of the Provincial Agriculturist said in a report that the two-week survey aims to generate an updated rice production profile of every barangay and information on the present level of production technology being adopted by rice farmers.

DA Regional Technical Director Sofronio Parohinog said the activity also seeks to gather information on the pre- and post-harvest facilities available for rice farmers and the services being delivered to rice farmers and identify those still needed.

Aside from those in Negros Occidental, barangays in other provinces in Region 6 will also be covered by the survey. Data will be gathered by the agricultural technicians of the city and municipal agriculture offices.

OPA said in its report that over the last three decades, the Philippines has been a rice importer even if the country's average rice yield is comparatively higher than that of other Asian countries.

Increase in rice yield is not enough to cope with the country's population growth and the rice per capita consumption of the country is relatively high.

Thus, it is important for the government to develop a rice production strategy that will propel palay production from 14.63 million metric tons in 2002 to 16.44 million MTs in 2005; 16.83 million MTs in 2006; and 17.33 million MTs in 2007, OPA added.*

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