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HOW can the government sustain a P20-per-kilo rice program for long-suffering Filipino consumers? The answer is obvious and simple: improve farm productivity per unit of land and labor used.

But it is easier said than done because there are a number of measures that need to be put in place to attain significant yield increases. However, im-plementing these will require considerable political will and sustained determination from the government.

Foremost is the need to cluster and consolidate farms in order to enjoy economies of scale. Clustered and consolidated farms will enable the use of modern farm machinery and technologies, and will lower the cost of farm inputs.

Second, the government will have to target areas favorable to palay (unmilled rice) production as these will provide the highest yield per unit of invest-ment made. This will require selecting areas where palay cultivation will yield the best results and where most of the production input support should be concentrated.

Areas not favorable for palay cultivation should be devoted to other crops. As such crops will not require enormous amounts of water compared to pa-lay, the use of small water impounding facilities and shallow tube wells will reduce irrigation costs.

Three, farm clustering and consolidation will require continued investment in extension, including community organizing, to instill the value of collec-tive action among small farmers. Qualified agricultural extension workers will have to be recruited so that they can properly disseminate knowledge on the latest production techniques and technologies.

Similarly, sustained investment in research will be indispensable to ensure higher yields and better product quality. Research investments in crop varie-tal improvement, such as those experienced in Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam, have demonstrated the value of improvinag product quality in generating greater sales and providing adequate raw materials to agri-food processing sectors.

Four, given the miniscule farms owned by palay farmers, the only chance for them to increase their incomes is to engage in the production of high-value crops in between the two palay planting seasons. Given that palay is a low-value crop, income derived from farming of a hectare or two will never suffice to provide a decent income. The only way to earn more is to engage in rice-based crop diversification. But that will require availability of water during those periods, which small irrigation facilities — if strategically constructed — can provide.

Finally, there will be a need to adopt a trade policy that will effectively lessen the entry of cheap imported rice during the palay harvest season while at the same time allow their arrival during the lean (planting) season to ensure adequate rice supply throughout the year.

This, in turn, will require appointing people who really understand the workings of the industry, including the technical requirements of palay farming, and who will be empowered to make the tough decision on when to allow and suppress rice imports despite political pressures from influential stake-holders.

Meanwhile. a recent scientific study on the effects of the Vietnamese anti-ASF vaccine being promoted by the Department of Agriculture was recently published. Jointly authored by 13 scientists and published in Scientific Reports Vol. 15, the report noted that the "African swine fever (ASF) vaccine-like variant with multiple deletions caused reproductive failure in a Vietnamese breeding herd."

The authors claimed that the study established the presence of a vaccine-like ASF strain in a non-vaccinated Vietnamese breeding herd that could be at-tributed to the widespread use and possible unauthorized release of modified live-attenuated vaccines. The study noted that nearly 4 million vaccine doses had been distributed in Vietnam by mid-2024. While the vaccine has a protective ability against ASF-challenged animals, the isolate exhibited risks such as horizontal transmission and death in a specific age group of pigs. Hence, it was speculated that vaccinated pigs might disseminate vaccine-like variants and cause some adverse effects, highlighting the complexity of ASF management.

Genetic analysis confirmed that the virus in this outbreak closely matched the ASFV-G-∆MGF vaccine strain, strongly suggesting its origin from the com-mercial or experimental use of this vaccine rather than from wild-type field strains.

The DA's Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) has reported that the Vietnamese ASF vaccine introduced in sample farms elicited antibody reactions from the injected hogs. But this is a highly flawed finding because scientists will tell us that the vaccine is expected to do so. What they failed to discuss is the con-cern of virus shedding as demonstrated by the study mentioned. This is important because we are unsure whether the BAI has the facility and capability to conduct genetic analysis of the ASF strains that might now be present in the country. Has there been, at least, a study conducted independently and not by the importer-trader of the vaccine?

What makes matters worse is that the same vaccine being sold here costs just $2 to $2.50 in Vietnam while the government is subsidizing its cost to the tune of around P500 ($9) per dose.

Another confounding development for the local animal industry is a recent BAI report that the first case of the highly pathogenic avian influenza Type A Subtype H5N9 bird flu has been detected among ducks in Camaligan, Camarines Sur. This has no relation to the H5N1 bird flu strain that is also lethal to humans and the same strain detected in the global outbreak of bird flu since 2021.

The one detected in Camarines Sur, which has not been previously detected until 2013 in China, can cause high mortality in poultry and deaths in hu-mans (https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/wpro---documents/emergency/surveillance/avian-influenza/ai_20250131.pdf).

This must be a priority agenda for the DA considering that the new strain will not only affect the local poultry industry but also the health of Filipinos. The BAI must be able to investigate soon and find out if the case in Camarines Sur is isolated or if the virus is being introduced in other areas, which can paint an altogether different risk map.

With the hog sector already reeling from the destruction wrought by ASF, the domestic animal industry can ill afford a hit to the poultry subsector, which has become a source of growth given failed attempts to control the ravages of ASF.

Source : msn