With plans to increase the number of dams and improve irrigation systems in the country, the National Irrigation Administration said that the Philippines may become rice-sufficient by 2028.

In a radio interview, an NIA key official said that among the agency's short-term plans to boost the country's agriculture sector is expanding the construction of reservoirs and diversion-type dams to ensure a stable water supply to farmlands.

“I am confident that by maybe 2028, we will be rice-sufficient because of the area we can add for irrigation,” said Sunday by NIA acting administrator Engr. Eduardo Guillen.

Meanwhile, Guillen said the agency is primarily focusing on enhancing its water supply amid the ongoing strong El Niño phenomenon forecast to prevail this February.

“Obviously, the number one thing we will focus on is the water supply, how we can help the farmers with water because this is what we really need for food production,” he said.

He added that despite the weather phenomenon’s occurrence, the agency expects that palay production will increase, mentioning that the government has prepared earlier for El Niño through a whole-of-the-nation approach.

Among the agency’s measures carried out were the planting of high-value crops in vulnerable farming areas and the implementation of alternate wetting and drying technologies.

Guillen also noted that based on their initial assessment, 50,000 hectares were considered vulnerable areas in Central Luzon, but based on their monitoring on Saturday, only 10,000 hectares are the remaining unirrigated lands.

“I am confident to say that the production area of ​​NIA this El Niño, our rice production will increase,” he said.

“It is true that we cannot all irrigate our area now because the vulnerable [area] is at 20 percent. But when we implement our alternate wetting and drying technology, you will be able to recover,” he added, noting that the DA is prioritizing NIA areas that are provided with high-yielding variety seeds, including hybrid rice, which produces double yields during the dry season.

During a ceremonial palay harvesting event and distribution of various assistance for Pampanga farmers in Candaba on Saturday, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. pushed to establish more solar-powered irrigation units, which will bring the country an additional 180,000 hectares of irrigable land and allow for third cropping.

Meanwhile, the Agriculture Bureau reported last January that the country’s largest palay harvest was registered last year, with a volume of 20.06 million metric tons -- 1.5 percent higher than the 2022 volume of 19.76 million MT.

In the same month, the United States Department of Agriculture reported that the Philippines is projected to import 3.8 million metric tons of rice in 2024.