Bigasan ng Masa in Dumaguete City

DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture in Region 7 is bringing the Bigasan ng Masa to Dumaguete City to sell commercial rice from Bohol at a lower price compared to the prevailing suggested retail price.

Cheryl dela Victoria of DA-7 told rice-eating Dumaguetenos the Bigasan ng Masa will be at the Quezon Park on June 21, 2018 to sell commercial rice on a first-come-first-served basis.

Approximately two to three tons of rice from Bohol will be brought to Dumaguete. Special premium rice will be sold at P48 per kilo only, well-milled rice at P44 per kilo, under-milled rice at P38 per kilo, brown rice at P40 per kilo, and black rice at P70 kilo.

Dela Victoria said that the possibility of another Bigasan ng Masa will depend on the outcome of the event scheduled this week at the Quezon Park. Like in Cebu, it is being conducted twice a month, in order to help the farmers in Bohol dispose of their oversupply of rice.

She explained Dumaguete City was chosen because of statistics that showed the city’s farmers have one of the lowest or no palay production.

During the Bigasan ng Masa, every household is allotted 10 kilos of rice only.

Not enough rice land

Negros Oriental has one of the lowest hectarage of land that is planted with rice, according to statistics taken from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

The official figure was taken by the DA from PSA as the official data while reconciling with figures coming from the Provincial Agriculture Office (PAO).

Bernard Limbaga of DA said only about 18,000 hectares of land in Negros Oriental are planted with rice, that is why from 2016 up to the present it has experienced insufficient rice supply.

In fact, Limbaga said, the region is importing between 80 to 100 metric tons of rice from Manila, excluding that of the National Food Authority

Wasted Rice

Every Negrense is wasting nine grams of rice per day or approximately 234 bags of rice in one year.

Computation of the PAO office showed that at an average of P1,600 per bag, the cost is so big at P374,900 being wasted for the whole year just by one person. When multiplied by the 1.3 million population the wastage is 85,410 bags for one year, according to the research conducted by Phil Rice.

Alvin Blaza, chief of the operations division of the Provincial Agriculture Office (PAO) recalled that the wastage prompted the agencies concerned to campaign for the abolition of unlimited rice in restaurants all over the region. Unfortunately, many are still offering unlimited rice as a marketing strategy.

The half-cup rice campaign was started but to no avail, even as the half-cup rice ordinance was introduced at the city council by former councilor Peter Catan.

According to Blaza at one time, Bohol had refused to send their rice to neighbors in the region because of the shortage.

He said that the present administration of Governor Roel Degamo has allotted P1.2 million for the purchase of certified seeds for rice and corn and currently distributing certified seeds to farmers’ organizations. There are about 25 active seed growers in Negros Oriental helping farmers secure needed seeds.

Average consumption of rice per person is 86 kilos per year while 120 kilos in Metro Manila.

The average daily consumption of rice in Negros Oriental is 6,500 kilos, the annual consumption is 119,592 metric tons, while the annual production is only 58,561 metric tons.