Rice imports won’t exceed 600,000 MT next yr — Lorenzo

Agriculture Secretary Luis Lorenzo Jr. said the country will import no more than 600,000 metric tons (MT) of rice in 2004 as earlier recommended by the National Food Authority (NFA).

"We do not need to import a higher volume than what was previously projected because we are looking at a good harvest in the wet crop season," said Lorenzo.

The wet crop season in the fourth quarter accounts for more than 60 percent of the country’s total palay production.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) is optimistic the 20- percent surge in third quarter rice production will be sustained, bolstering Lorenzo’s hopes that total yield for 2003 will surpass that of last year by at least 190,000 MT despite the unfavorable weather that hit most rice-producing regions in the country.

The BAS has projected rice production to hit 13.47 million MT this year, a minimal 1.4-percent rise from the 13.27 million MT in 2002.

Lorenzo said the fourth quarter production should also rise because the DA has intensified its campaign for the use of hybrid rice seeds which can yield as much as 10 MT per hectare compared to the current national average yield of 2.9 MT per hectare.

Production of palay, the country’s major staple, was down by 5.13 percent to 5.381 million metric tons (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.

This forced the Philippines, a net importer of rice, to bring in 934,000 MT of the country’s staple and of which 646,000 MT were purchased by the NFA.

This year’s imports also included the 229,000 MT purchased by farmers, allowed for the first time under the Farmers As Importers (FAI) program.

The 600,000-MT importation is lower than this year’s total importation as the DA is striving to increase local rice production to minimize dollar-draining imports.

NFA Assistant Administrator Jesus P. Navarro said the agency prefers the imports to arrive from March to May or during the summertime.

"We need to have the shipment come early so that we can have ample time to distribute these in rice-deficient provinces before the lean months from July to September," said Navarro.

Navarro said the imports will serve as buffer stock and to fill the projected rice supply shortfall of close to one million MT next year.

He pointed out that the shortfall is based on this year’s projected palay production. The government projects daily consumption to increase by 1.8 percent in 2004 to 26,900 MT from 26,400 MT this year.