RP to import less rice next year

The country may import less rice next year on account of the expected positive results of measures undertaken to raise palay production, along with the shipment of about 200,000 metric tons (MT) under the US Public Law 480.

Arthur Yap, National Food Authority (NFA) administrator, said there is a strong likelihood that the projected increase in palay output next year will mean lower imports as the Department of Agriculture (DA) continues implementing its quick turnaround (QTA) scheme.

The QTA encourages farmers to immediately start planting rice after they have harvested their wet season crop cultivated between April and October.

If all goes well, the QTA will yield an additional 308,903 MT of palay in the second half of 2003, on top of the 7.79 million MT it expects to harvest in the second semester. The extra harvest will raise total palay production to 13.47 million MT from 13.27 million MT in 2002.

"We already reduced imports this year and this will likely be sustained next year," said Yap.

Francisco Malabanan, GMA rice program director said that with the QTA, rice production next year could reach 14.9 to 15.2 million MT.

"This is granting that we would at least by 97-percent self-sufficient in rice," said Malabanan.

The QTA will be implemented in 69,174 hectares of irrigated rice land in key areas of the country, using hybrid seeds supplied by government and private firms. Also, 44,849 hectares will be planted to certified seeds.

Aside from the QTA and other measures, the country is also expecting 118,000 MT of rice under the US PL 480.

This year, the country imported 840,000 MT of rice, lower than the original projected imports of one million MT.

There were concerns government may have to increase imports of rice as extreme weather conditions in the first semester brought about by the tail-end of the El Niño dry spell and the destruction caused by supertyphoon Harurot last month, slowed down the country’s farm sector growth to just 2.4 percent compared to the 3.22-percent growth during the same period in 2002.

The same contraction is reflected in the second quarter with only a 1.52-percent growth from April to June this year, way off the 3.43-percent growth during the same period of last year. This was attributed to poor weather that affected key farm areas nationwide.

Production of palay, the country’s major staple was down by 5.13 percent to 5.381 MT compared to 5.6 million MT in the first half of 2002. This was due to the drought that reduced harvest areas in the major rice-growing regions of Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Western Visayas, Bicol and Region 12 composed of North Cotabato, Sarangani, South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Cotabato City.