RP has enough rice, says DA

Agriculture Secretary Leonardo Montemayor allayed fears yesterday of a rice shortage owing to the anticipated occurence of the El Niño phenomenon.

"We are very safe on buffer stock of rice for the El Niño," said Montemayor.

In an interview, Montemayor said the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics reported an eight-percent increase in palay production during the first quarter this year.

According to the National Food Authority (NFA), as of the first week of this month, the total industry stock is recorded at 1.8 million metric tons, which is good for 72 days based on an average daily consumption of 24,600 metric tons. The stocks held by the NFA, private retailers or commercial sector and the household sector.

In addition, the NFA through the Philippine International Trading Corp. (PITC) will be importing 390,000 metric tons of rice to raise the country’s buffer stock position to 90 days, considered by government planners as the ideal level. The stocks will be coming in from India, Thailand, Pakistan, and Vietnam for delivery from May to July this year.

Montemayor said the stocks will cost somewhere between $175 and $180 per ton.

In a related development, Montemayor said continuous cloud seeding is being conducted especially to agricultural areas, with the assistance of the Philippine Air Force.

He also said a memorandum of agreement (MOA) has been forged between the Depatment of Agriculture (DA) and the League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP) during the El Niño summit yesterday at the Manila Hotel.

The MOA states that the DA and LPP shall pool their resources and work closely in preparation to the El Niño.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) has made a forecast saying the El Niño is likely to be felt initially in Mindanao by the fourth quarter of this year, or from October to December and will last through the first of 2003. Pagasa also said it will be a mild El Niño episode.