IMPROVE POST-HARVEST INFRA TO PREVENT RICE WASTAGE - ANGARA

In observance of the National Rice Awareness Month, Senator Edgardo J. Angara, called for the urgent improvement of post-harvest facilities in the country to minimize, if not prevent, wastage and losses.

According to the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), savings from rice importation can reach up to P10 billion in a year. At least 4.3 million hungry Filipinos could also be fed if rice wastage is prevented.

Angara, former Agriculture Secretary, underscored the need to prioritize investments in irrigation including rehabilitation of irrigation facilities, construction of new irrigation systems and provision of small farm reservoirs.

"Plugging these huge post-harvest losses in the grains sector, even just halving, would dramatically reduce our import dependency," said Angara, Chair of the Senate Committee on Science and Technology.

"Rice-producing areas in Central and Northern Luzon cannot save their crops from the elements due to the lack of post-harvest facilities," he noted.

"The government should invest on irrigation, extension services and post-harvest facilities in the different rice granaries of the country," Angara stressed.