Private sector to handle additional rice imports

MANILA, Philippines - Any additional rice importation for this year will most likely be coursed through the private sector and not the National Food Authority (NFA).

This was announced by Acting Agriculture Secretary Bernie Fondevilla during the Philippine Economic Briefing held yesterday at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Makati.

Speaking to newsmen following his presentation, Fondevilla, said it could still be possible that the NFA would undertake additional importations if that is the decision of the Inter-Agency Committee (IAC) on rice importation.

Fondevilla said such decision would likely be made after the first quarter as the DA and the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) firm up actual rice harvest figures.

Fondevilla said the palay (paddy rice) harvest season runs from March 15 to April this year. He said the issue on whether to import more rice will be resolved only after the actual palay harvest figures are in.

He said the committee will also have to assess the damage to crop production by the El Niño phenomenon.

In his presentation, Fondevilla said the DA projects crop damage to hit P11 billion based on a mild to moderate drought.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical and Services Administration (PAG-ASA), Fondevilla said, had reported that the drought is likely to be mild to moderate.

According to Fondevilla, the DA will “revisit” its growth computations based on actual crop damage figures and actual palay and corn harvest figures.

Various stakeholders in the rice industry urged yesterday the Arroyo government to re-evaluate its planned importation of three million metric tons of rice this year until reliable and verifiable data on the projected rice losses are established. 

They pointed out that recently-released data from the BAS showed only a 1.72 percent decline in palay production for January to June this year, compared to the same period in 2009.