The City Agriculture Office (CAO) in Davao City is urging residents to conserve rice as the city struggles to sustain production for the rest of 2024.

CAO said it is dependent on supply from neighboring provinces.

“In all honesty, ang atoang local production sa Davao City, dili gyud siya mag-sustain sa atoa for the whole year, even a month, tungod sa ka-gamay sa atoang production area… nagasalig ta sa produce from neighboring provinces. Usa sa mga ginaduso karon is dili nato usik-usikan ang kan-on,” CAO Rice Production Focal Person, Pablita Almador, said.

In 2023, the city produced 6,000 metric tons of rice and CAO is working on reaching the same figure this year.

CAO said it is working on expanding rice fields to improve the production area. At present, the city has only more than 400 hectares of production area.

“Ang atong ginatan-aw karon, didto na sa upland somewhere in Marilog and Pacquibato kay dako pa kaayo’g potential ang mga areas didto for rice production. Ang ginatan-aw na lang karon sa atong engineering division, makakita ta og source sa tubig nga pwede magamit. Sa pagkakaron, naa natay na-expand sa Barangay Bantol mga more than three hectares,” Almador added.

CAO continues to provide assistance to farmers by giving them free seedlings and fertilizers.

However, there have been challenges, including mechanization and funds from the Department of Agriculture.

“Ang Davao City is hindi po tayo kasali sa RCEP mechanization kay ang ginatan-aw nila is yung production area. Naa tay rice seeds nga libre para sa farmers pero sa karon nga year, ni-reduce nila ang allocate sa atoa,” Almador said.

CAO is also concerned about the declining number of rice farmers in the city as some of them have shifted to planting corn because of the low farm gate price.