Importation of 600,000-MT rice next year awaits Malacañang approval

Malacanang has yet to approve the recommendation of the National Food Authority (NFA) to import at least 600,000 metric tons (MT) of rice this year.

NFA wants the importation done before the May elections to prevent prices from shooting up as is usually the case when elections take place. Politicians distribute rice in vote-rich areas during the campaign,especially in poor, urban and rural areas.

"No, we haven’t gotten word from President Arroyo," said NFA Administrator Arthur Yap, who added that the state-run agency might tap traditional suppliers like China and Vietnam.

Aside from the 600,000 MT to be imported by NFA, about 345,000 MT was allowed to be imported under the NFA’s Farmers as Importers (FAI) program. The program was revised to include private trader groups this year.

Agriculture Secretary Luis Lorenzo Jr., however, wants to limit importations this year to just 600,000 MT saying the country will meet its goal of achieving self-sufficiency in rice. "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," he said.

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 last year’s third quarter 20-percent surge in rice production will be sustained, bolstering the hopes of Lorenzo that yields for 2003 will surpass last year’s figures by at least 190,000 MT despite the unfavorable weather that hit most rice-producing regions in the country.

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

Lorenzo said the fourth quarter production should also rise because the DA has intensified its 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 MT compared to 5.6 million MT in the first half of 2002 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 staple.

Last year, imports also included the 229,000 MT purchased by farmers, allowed for the first time under the FAI program to import rice.

The 600,000 MT importation is lower than last 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 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," he said.

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 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.