By Ramon Rafael Bonilla | Special to the BusinessMirror
A global alliance in agriculture called for a strong international action for sustainable rice production as the world braces for challenges in rice-resource efficiency, with the Philippines facing insufficiency in the coming years.
It its recent fifth Annual Plenary Meeting and General Assembly attended by stakeholders, such as agricultural research institutions, agrifood businesses, public sector and civil society organizations, the Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP) pledged to pursue rice security through environmentally sustainable and socially responsible rice cultivation.
It said there should be efforts to attract more partners for a stronger solution to maintain the stability of rice for more than 3.5 billion people around the world that depend on it.
The SRP launched the world’s first standard for sustainable rice, which sets new and more efficient standards for rice cultivation. The SRP Standard for Sustainable Rice Cultivation uses environmental and socioeconomic benchmarks to maintain yields for rice smallholders, reduce the environmental footprint of rice cultivation and meet consumer needs for food safety and quality.
The development of the standard draws on global experience in other sustainable commodity initiatives, such as sugarcane, cotton, coffee and palm oil. It is made up of 46 requirements ranging from productivity, food safety, worker health, labor rights and biodiversity. It is supplemented by a set of quantitative performance indicators to enable farmers and market supply chain actors to gauge the sustainability of a rice system, and to monitor and reward progress.
“It’s a big deal. It is a major concern not only for us, but to the whole community. This is the first time that an initiative addressed a challenging problem that will determine the importance of global food security,” said James Lomax, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) program officer for Agriculture and Food, who initiated the SRP in December 2011.
He also acknowledged that “it is a collective effort of governments, international agencies, profit and nonprofit organizations, and research institutes” to alleviate the prolonged agony that should not be neglected as the world population continues to erupt in the recent decade.
“We should see today that the value of rice should call the attention of more people to extend their help to address its critical importance,” he added, with the SRP now having 29 institutional members. Robert Zeigler, director general of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) which co-founded the SRP, said: “The SRP Standard represents the world’s first initiative that will set environmentally sustainable and socially responsible rice production management standards. Our key challenge now is to incentivize and scale up adoption, especially among resourcepoor small farmers.”
In the Philippines, which 99.88 million population in 2014 had the fastest growth in recent memory, palay production hit its target of 19.07 million metric tons (MMT) last year, eclipsing its goal of 18.88 MMT for the year and the 18.04 MMT in 2013. Yet, as the SRP projected, the country’s population braces for 141.67 million count in 2040, wherein the total rice utilization per paddy production should be at 34.12 MMT, compared to the present 24.01 MMT.
In contrast, the figures show that as the population grows in the coming decades, more and more demand for rice are needed for consumption. The total harvesting area may diminish faster than expected as only 3.14 million hectares is a far cry from today’s 4.74 million hectares. To address this, the Department of Agriculture (DA), together with the Philippine Rice Research Institute, indicated top priorities for effective rice cultivation.
The DA noted three main steps: increase productivity of land resources; diversify sources of farm income; and encourage healthier consumption.
In increasing the productivity of rice, the DA noted that shortening the riceproduction cycle should be prioritized through direct seeding, use of early-maturing varieties, synchronous planting and appropriate mechanization.
In his message at the plenary session, Agriculture Secretary Proseso J. Alcala hailed the initiative of SRP and other contributing sectors in helping the agency in providing Filipinos a better stance against rice scarcity.
“This occasion augurs well for the country’s national rice program. The SRP underscores the crucial role of interagency partnership and interaction with key rice stakeholders in enhancing sustainability in the rice sector,” Alcala said.
“With the valuable assistance of the IRRI, we have taken a giant step toward ensuring increased productivity of farmers,” Alcala added, as he admits the vital role of the global community in helping rice efficiency in the Philippines.
“The involvement of global networks will provide the DA the necessary exposure to ideas and technologies in helping our farmers. Together with different sectors, we can promote competitiveness and higher income for the Filipinos,” Alcala said.