RP can be rice-sufficient in 2 yrs

The government must make the conversion of irrigated lands to commercial lands illegal to address the food crisis and even make the country self-sufficient in rice in the next two years, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) said.

“In the next two years, we will be producing enough rice to meet all the local requirements and we will be addressing the commercial side or export in the third or fourth year,” PCCI vice president for agriculture Roberto C. Amores said in an interview.

At the sidelines of yesterday’s press conference for the 34th annual Philippine Business Conference, Amores said the country will be able to meet the 10.5 million metric ton rice requirement in two years time by increasing the irrigated lands.

Compared to other rice producing countries, the irrigated farm land of the Philippines is very small at 1.3 million hectares. Thailand has seven million hectares of irrigated farm lands while Vietnam has four million hectares.

“By looking at the lands for farming alone, we can see the disparity in productivity,” Amores noted.

“We need to expand the number of lands available for farming. This is the only way we can address the problem in food,” he added.

According to Amores, there are four million hectares of land available in Mindanao and Luzon. However, he said these lands must be protected and not converted to commercial or residential lots.

“There are idle lands we can convert,” he said.

Amores said there are talks with private companies for joint venture projects for the development of the farm lands.

Amores said the government has allotted P3 billion for irrigated land.

Last April, President Arroyo announced that her government has allotted P46 billion for her FIELDS program. FIELDS stand for fertilizer, irrigation, education for farmers, loans, dryers and seed development. Of the entire amount, P3 billion is for irrigation. Amores promised that PCCI will be coming out with a forceful advocacy resolution regarding food security during the business council next week. The advocacy will be presented to the president.

Aside from the permanent banning of the conversion of irrigated lands, the other two are allowing farm lands to be used as capital and the 10- year duty free importation of farm machineries and imports.