THE Department of Agriculture (DA) on Tuesday announced a plan to overhaul its Masagana Rice Industry Development Program (MRIDP) to further increase rice production.

Among the goals are to improve seed quality and logistics to streamline farm inputs.

"We're recalibrating the program to identify areas for enhancement, including the distribution of improved seeds, expansion of irrigation systems and adjustments to rice cropping schedules," said Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr.

The country's average rice production in irrigated areas is currently at 4.51 metric tons (MT) per hectare, while nonirrigated areas yield 3.34 MT. Total national average is 4.17 MT per hectare.

Tiu Laurel said the DA aims to boost production to 7.5 MT per hectare, or 150 sacks (50 kg/bag) from the current 84 sacks per hectare.

In 2023, the Philippines achieved a record-breaking rice harvest of 20.06 million MT across 4.82 million hectares of crop area.

If the new target is met in 3.39 million hectares of irrigated areas, the DA said annual production could surpass 25 million MT.

Prior to the passage of the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL) in 2019, the average palay (unmilled rice) yield per hectare stood at 3.97 MT in 2018 and 3.89 MT in 2013.

The RTL sets aside P10 billion annually in import duties to fund modernization of rice farming and boost productivity.

The agriculture chief also stressed the need to address a key challenge in the farming sector. "After decades of neglect, we must adopt a more scientific approach to farming to boost output and manage costs effectively," Tiu Laurel said, adding that increasing productivity would not only benefit farmers but also help reduce food prices for consumers.

The MRIDP, which President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. approved in 2023, is based on four strategies: 1) increasing rice productivity by optimizing yields through climate-change adaptation measures; 2) more efficient operations through farm clustering and consolidation; 3) digital transformation for rice agriculture; and 4) reorienting the rice program toward a comprehensive agricultural production, agribusiness and agritourism.