Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature - School on Blog
Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid 738 DZRB AM with Ms Melly C Tenorio,
8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday
I am writing this article in response to queries on how to reduce loss and wastage of rice after it has been harvested until the time it reaches our dining table.
The second aspect is how we can reduce our consumption of rice in the light of recurrent production shortage, and increasing price without necessarily depriving ourselves of energy and nutrients.
Rice is lost in three stages.
1. Field loss in production mainly to pest and force majeure runs up to
50 percent of potential harvest. In many cases, it is total crop failure.
2. Gains in rice production may be negated by huge postharvest loss mainly due to lack of facilities and improper processing. Postharvest loss ranges from 10 to 37 percent of total harvest.
3. Nutritional loss incurred during food preparation, cooking and poor eating habits is likewise high (no quantified figure but significant).
How can we reduce postharvest loss?
Postharvest loss can be reduced during the following activities:
1. Threshing - Use improved thresher, thresh on time and do not plant easy-shattering varieties.
2. Drying - Sundry properly, use mechanical dryers is sun drying is not feasible.
3. Milling - Use mill types/model with high milling recovery. Mill grains, which are properly dried. Do not mix different varieties.
4. Handling and transport - Use good sacks, transport properly and on time.
5. Storage - Keep pest away and moisture low. Store properly and dispose on time.
Rice Weevil (Sitophilus oryza)
Development of Substitutes to Reduce Pressure on Rice
Low production together with devaluation of our peso and spiraling world market price of the commodity have caused the price of rice to shoot up to as much as 100 percent in the last five years, and it is going to increase further. This view leads us to believe that we can institute or strengthen agricultural reforms and programs. One area to focus our attention is the development of rice substitutes such as other cereals, rootcrops, and legumes.Aside from direct substitution, the increase in the uptake of fruits and vegetables, meat and fish would lead to a reduction in rice consumption, not to mention its valuable contribution to nutrition, thus the improvement of health.
Corn as a whole tops all rice substitutes, other than the fact that 20 percent (14 million) of our population depends on corn as staple.
In urban areas the most popular rice substitutes are noodle products, followed by pandesal and other wheat products. In rural areas, sweet potato (Ipomea batatas) and cassava (Manihot esculenta) top the list of rootcrops.
Among the legumes, mungo (Phaseolus radiatus) is best known. Generally, consumers of these products are unaware that they are doing a favor to the rice industry, particular during the lean months.
The development of these substitute products on the part of the farmers is beneficial. It will definitely boost diversified farming, and consequently income on the farni4 A program based on this alternative is definitely necessary both in the short and long term, particularly if the focus is the development of indigenous products.
Here are some facts about rice to consider:
1. Per capita consumption of rice is from 95 to 130, Metro Manila and Ilocos Region, respectively. National average is close to 100 kg per person.
2. Daily calorie supply per capita is 2,357. Rice supplies 38% of it.
3. With our population of 87 million, our total rice requirement is 13 million MT. Today's production is less than 12 million MT.
4. Our total rice area is shrinking, even as land use policy regulates non-agricultural land use, such as settlements and industry.
5. Farmlands are becoming marginal due to poor management.
6. Agrarian program, since it was promulgated 50 years ago, remains a social and political issue, instead of being a catalyst of growth and development.
7. Farming remains in the hands of farmers who are on the average 58 years old, with low formal education, and with very little personal savings.
8. There are less and less students taking up agriculture. Not even 10 percent of agriculture graduates go into farming.
9. There is need to define clearly our agricultural policy on rice self-sufficiency. In the seventies and eighties, the Philippines became one of the world's exporters of rice, as a result of a successful food production program. We were also self-sufficient in most basic food items.
10. Investment in agriculture is very low, priority is in industry. It should be the other way around, as many countries realized lately.~