Gov’t on track to achieving rice sufficiency – Alcala

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Agriculture (DA) assured yesterday the public that the country is on track to achieving rice self sufficiency by the end of 2013 and that rice imports for 2013 – which will be used for buffer stock – will only be made within the country’s international commitments.

Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said that the country cannot prevent the influx of imported rice even if self sufficiency is reached because of provisions in international agreements.

The programmed importation of 187,000 metric tons (MT) for this year would be made within the minimum access volume (MAV) of 350,000 MT.

These would be used for the lean months of June to September when there is a gap in rice production because of the typhoons that hit the country during this period. 

“The Food Staples Sufficiency Program defines self-sufficiency as the country’s ability to meet its national food requirements, while maintaining a buffer stock to be used in times of need. We are working to meet our per capita consumption of about 115 kilograms per person per year, given our population of about 99 million Filipinos,” said Alcala.

“I have always clarified that once we achieve rice self-sufficiency by the end of 2013, we may not be able to do away with provisions of our international agreements that require us to allow rice from other countries to enter our borders, like those under the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN),” he added.

The Philippines is bound, under the WTO, to allow 350,000 metric tons of rice into the country under MAV.

The 187,000 MT that will be imported this year is within the MAV, and is covered by a 40 percent in-quota tariff, which is the Philippines’ quantitative restriction.

The country intends to surpass the 2012 rice production of 18 million MT by producing 20 million MT this year. 

“The government is on-track in its goal of self-sufficiency in rice by 2013. This year, all our efforts are geared towards increasing our 2012 palay production,” said Alcala in a statement.

Alcala noted that the government has significantly reduced its rice imports from a high of 2.4 million metric tons in 2010, to 860,000 MT in 2011, and 500,000 last year.

“This means that our efforts towards self-sufficiency and reducing rice imports are gaining ground,” Alcala said. “Of course all our targets would have to be dependent on weather conditions, especially since climate change is upon us and weather and climate play an indispensable role in rice farming,” he added.

Alcala explains that the department expects the country to achieve rice self sufficiency by the end of 2013 because the balance of the harvest during the wet season which ends in December, is recorded only in the first few months of the following year.