Filipinos eating more rice

LOS BAñOS, Laguna – Filipinos are eating more rice.

This, in the face of shrinking farmlands set against the grim backdrop of an exploding population, makes the goal of attaining self-sufficiency in rice hardly achievable now and in the near future.

This year, the per capita rice consumption is projected to reach 115 kilograms per year, said Dr. Frisco Malabanan, director of the Ginintuang Masaganang Anihan (GMA) Rice Program of the Department of Agriculture (DA).

Last year, the per capita rice consumption was placed at 109 kg/yr, or an increase of three kilogram from the 2001 figure.

This makes the Philippines one of the world’s biggest rice-consuming countries, according to statistics compiled by the Asia Rice Foundation (ARF).

The biggest rice-eating country is Myanmar at 195 kg/yr, followed by Cambodia and Lao PDR, 160 kg/yr. In great contrast, the average European eats three kilograms of rice per annum while the American consumes 7 kg/yr.

On the other hand, although rice production in the Philippines consistently increased by three percent per year from 2000 to 2003 and a record high of 7.3 percent in 2004, there is still not enough to cope with the increase in population, Dr. Malabanan noted at the ARP-sponsored "Seminar on Rice Landscape, Environment, and Research" held recently at SEARCA in Los Baños.

Rice production consistently rose during the past five years. Last year, production went up to 14.49 million metric tons, up by 7.3 percent from that of 2003. This is also the highest recorded since 2000.

But population has been steadily increasing at 2.36 percent annually.

"This is equivalent to an additional 1.7 million babies every year," said Dr. Malabanan, a key official of the DA-Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice).

There are now more than 85 million Filipinos. The population is projected to soar to almost 94 million by 2010, 102.8 by 2015, and 111.55 million by 2020.

Because of the rapid population growth, demand continues to outstrip supply. The deficit is filled up by importation.

As estimated, demand in 2006 is 9.995 million metric tons of milled rice while the supply is only 9.08 mmt. In 2007, the about 89 million Filipinos will need 10.19 mmt but only 9.539 mmt could be produced. By 2008, demand is 10.39 mmt of milled rice as against 10.01 mmt expected to be produced.

Moreover, the country’s rice area has remained at four million hectares, according to Dr. Malabanan.

"We are anticipating this to decrease as irrigated rice lands are devoted to other cash crops and others are converted into residential, industrial, and commercial areas," he said.

An additional burden of rice farmers is the consistent fast increase in the cost of inputs, particularly fertilizers, although the price of palay has virtually remained at a standstill over the years.

At present, the country’s best bet to close the population-production gap is the use of hybrid and certified inbred rice seeds.

"Given the decrease in rice areas, it is imperative to find ways to raise yields without necessarily increasing land use," Dr. Malabanan stressed.

This is particularly true with hybrid rice, he added, citing that these modern varieties have achieved a 33 percent yield advantage or an additional 1.48 t/ha over certified inbreeds in eight seasons from 2001 to 2005.

The DA/PhilRice official further reported: "Hybrid rice farmers’ income also increased. Certified seed growers earned P5,173 more than those who planted home-saved rice seeds, while hybrid rice growers made P15,078 more than those who utilized certified seeds."

Encouragingly, Dr. Malabanan noted, the number of farmers planting hybrid rice has been increasing considerably. Likewise, from 6,000 ha in 2001 when the government’s hybrid rice commercialization program (HRCP) was launched, the hybrid rice area has soared to 300,000 ha in 2004.

We concluded: "Productivity is on the uptrend. Yield has been standily increasing, reaching 3.51 t/ha in 2004. The trend should be sustained so as to keep up with the increase in population.