Rice imports seen to drop 16% this yr

The National Food Authority said the volume of rice imports this year is expected to be lower than in 2003 owing to the success of the government’s rice production program.

Agriculture Undersecretary for Luzon and NFA Administrator Arthur C. Yap said that the projected importation this year of 782,000 metric tons (MT) is lower by 16 percent compared to the 934,000 MT the government brought in last year.

In 2003, the NFA imported 646,000 MT of rice, while the private sector brought in 229,000 MT. The government also availed of 37,000 MT and 22,000 MT of rice, both as soft commodity loans from the United States under PL 480 and as grant under Section 416, respectively.

Yap said the country’s rice import volumes started to dip when President Arroyo focused on the agricultural programs of the country through the Department of Agriculture. Total volume reduction of rice imports has reached 46 percent from 1.206 million metric tons two years ago to the projected import volume this year.

This year, the NFA has increased its local procurement target as it embarked on an extensive palay buying program starting this palagad or summer harvest. With the NFA getting ahead in the market, farm gate prices were pushed up as private traders also increased their buying prices to corner their needed volume. The high buying prices by traders had limited NFA’s purchases, but was a boon to the farmers, Yap said.

On a nationwide scale, ex-farm price of palay as of end of March averaged P9.69 per kilogram. Highest ex-farm price for palay is recorded at P10.54 per kg in Western Mindanao; P10.24 per kg in Northern Mindanao and P10.04 per kg in the Bicol Region.