N. ecija: Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. and National Irrigation Administration Administrator Eduardo Guillen joined thousands of rice farmers on Tuesday to celebrate the Second Dry Season Harvest Festival. The event, held in the country’s top rice-producing province, included a ceremonial harvesting of palay (unhusked rice) on a 5.7-hectare farmland of Arsenio Mallare, a member of the Hoy Gising Irrigators Association, Inc., in Barangay Talipapa.

According to Philippines News Agency, the activity symbolizes the success of the government’s intensified rice production strategy under the Masagana Rice Industry Development Program (MRIDP). The program supported a total of 76,075 hectares for double-dry initiatives in the Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation Systems (UPRIIS) service area, exceeding the original target of 61,985 hectares by 14,090 hectares.

‘This harvest is more than the fruit of planting,’ Laurel said in his keynote message. ‘It is the result of collective commitment, hard work, and shared belief that Filipino farmers can lead our journey to food security.’ Guillen, meanwhile, lauded farmers’ perseverance and urged them to continue their efforts.

The festival comes on the heels of a record-breaking first-half palay output of 9.08 million metric tons, a figure earlier reported by the Philippine Statistics Authority. With the first-half output normally accounting for around 45 percent of annual production, the January-June harvest bodes well for the DA’s target to produce a record 20.46 million metric tons of palay by year-end.

In an earlier statement, Department of Economy, Planning and Development Secretary Arsenio Balisacan credited the resurgence to favorable weather and government interventions, noting that the agriculture, fisheries, and forestry sector grew 7 percent in the second quarter. This marks a strong rebound after last year’s contraction due to the impact of the dry spell caused by El Ni±o.