Plant early, NTA tells farmers

By Leilanie G. Adriano

Staff reporter

LAOAG CITY—The National Tobacco Administration (NTA) is encouraging tobacco farmers in the Ilocos Region to plant earlier than the usual cropping season to mitigate the effects of dry spell that will affect Luzon beginning September.

So far, farmers in Ilocos Norte are enjoying the rainy weather as they have more time in the field tilling the land.  

According to PAGASA, a majority of climate models indicate that El Niño, a weather pattern that can bring drought, may develop around the middle of the year.

During a dialogue last month with tobacco farmers and the private sector, the NTA came up with some measures to address the weather phenomenon in various stages.

Top of the list is early planting of tobacco, according to NTA Administrator Edgardo Zaragoza.

Other measures include delineation of areas to evaluate availability of water for irrigation and to determine types of tobacco to be planted, and continuous consultation with farmers in tobacco-growing provinces.

According to Mr. Zaragoza, calendars detailing specific farm activity dates will be issued to farmers.

“If our farmers want to make sure of a higher percentage of survival, and high-quality yield, they should stick to the calendar,” he said.

The weather phenomenon has caused the low quality yield of tobacco in the past. Last cropping season, the tobacco buyers noted lower quality of Virginia tobacco compared to previous year’s production as a result of the lack of rainfall during the growth period of the crop.

For Virginia tobacco, farmers are encouraged to start sowing seeds as early as first week of September in time for transplanting by middle of October. For Burley, sowing of seeds should start as early as third week of September.

Roberto Bonoan, NTA technical coordinator for branch offices, said Virginia tobacco is expected to be harvested two and half months after transplanting, or before the dry spell is at its peak by early part of 2015.

“Most tobacco farmers are also planting rice during the rainy season, but we encourage them to prepare also for the tobacco season to avoid delays of sowing,” Mr. Bonoan said.

“Farmers should have set aside a portion of their farm for the seedbedding of tobacco,” he added.

Also during the multi-sectoral meeting, the agency urged the tobacco companies and farmer leaders to help the NTA branch managers disseminate the information on the mitigating measures. It also urged them to assist farmers with modern techniques of planting appropriate to the current climate condition.

Mr. Zaragoza said that consultations with the farmers shall include the evaluation of barn capacity, requirements of tobacco buyers, early planting strategies and technology, campaign against non-tobacco-related materials (NTRMs), and Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and values orientation.

“Hopefully with these programs in place, farmers can still grow the crop and minimize the risk of drought,” Mr. Zaragoza said.