No more rice imports by 2014, says Alcala

LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines – The Philippines intends to  export special varieties of rice this quarter and stop rice  importation by 2014 after domestic rice production has exceeded yield target by at least two-million metric tons during the 2011 to 2012 cropping season.

Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala, who was here Wednesday and Thursday for the Department of Agriculture’s two-day 2013 first quarter management conference (Mancom), announced that the government would start the exportation of fancy rice varieties as early as this quarter after the country’s rice production reached 18.3 million metric tons in 2012,  surpassing the target production of 18 million metric tons for that year.

Alcala said some countries have already signified intention to buy the locally produced fancy rice.

“For example, Hongkong and Singapore are interested in our colored rice, the Middle East in long grain aromatic rice, and the United Arab Emirates and United States in heirloom rice,” he told The STAR.

Alcala said the 18.3-million metric tons rice production in 2012 is higher by two-million metric tons compared to the 2011 actual production of 16 million metric tons.

He said that the country would start rice exportation even of its regular rice once it achieves its target 20 million metric tons production target in 2014.

Alcala said that even the importation of NFA rice would be  totally stopped once  rice sufficiency  is attained and fully sustained beyond 2014.

“Once our rice production will continue to increase in every cropping season, and we finally hit the 20-million metric tons target in 2014, there is no reason for us not to export our produce and totally stop rice importation,” Alcala said.

Alcala attributes the improved yield to the government-initiated massive irrigation repair and rehabilitation, use of good quality seeds,  more post-harvest facilities, and more assistance to farmers, among others.

Alcala said that sufficient supply of rice would  kill rice hoarding and  even rice cartels in the country.

Similarly,  totally stopping importation would eradicate rice smuggling.

“All these problems in hoarding, cartel and smuggling of rice are expected to just die a natural death once our market is flooded with locally produced rice,” he added.

Alcala said that even the country’s corn production has  improved from 6.97 million metric tons in 2011 to 7.4 million metric tons in 2012, though slightly short of the 7.8 million metric tons set target.

He attributed the production growth to the expansion of corn plantations by about 50,000 hectares, use of good quality seeds, and more efficient post-harvest facilities that dropped harvest losses to 11 percent from the previous 15 percent.

Alcala said that sufficient supply of corn would also help stabilize rice sufficiency since corn is a substitute staple food in the Visayas and Mindanao provinces.

He also said that the fisheries growth rate has  improved from negative in the past years to 0.4 last year.

Alcala said that this could be the result of the seasonal closure for fishing of the waters of Zamboanga Peninsula and the Visayan seas from December to February last year, which was the spawning period for the fish species used in canning or manufacturing sardines.