Assessment of Yield Enhancement Intervention under National Rice Program and Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund to Palay Production and Income of Nueva Ecija Farmers

Abstract

Rice is a staple food for Filipinos and the sufficiency of its supply is essential. The Philippines source its supply of rice from local production and importation from neighboring Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam and Thailand. Nueva Ecija and its farmers are the largest rice producer in the Philippines. Nueva Ecija was popularly known as the Rice Granary of the country as it produces 9.5 – 10% of the total rice production in country for the last 5 years or equivalent to 1.6 million MT to 1.9 million MT. A percentile change in the production volume of rice in the province will have an impact of approximately 18000MT of change in supply availability. The level of supply in the province may affect the farmgate pricing of palay, affect the income of the farmers and helps determine their willingness to plant in the upcoming seasons. Farmgate price of palay in Nueva Ecija from 2010 to 2020 is Php 12.72 to Php26.68.Low farmgate prices discourage farmers to plant or disable them to do so as they are losing capital for the succeeding seasons. Rice seeds and farm inputs are being provided by the government thru RCEF to selected farmers to increase their productivity and subsidize some of the cost of production. The same programs were rolled out in Nueva Ecija, but farmers still ask for support to help them turn the rice farming profitable.