Department of Agriculture: No more rice importation starting next year

MANILA, Philippines - Officials of the Department of Agriculture (DA) claimed yesterday that starting next year, the Philippines would no longer import rice from other countries.

Agriculture Undersecretary Tony Fleta said the government’s rice sufficiency program is almost 80 percent complete and the country would have enough stock of rice by yearend.

He said that the program succeeded because of the full support of Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala.

Fleta said Alcala had also ordered the construction of more irrigation canals nationwide to allow farmers to harvest palay at least three times a year.

The government, likewise, distributed post harvest equipment such as threshers, dryers, and milling machines to farmers so that they could continue to plant and harvest palay even during rainy season.

Fleta said agriculture officials have met officials of rural banks and convinced the bankers to lend money to farmers who need to buy rice seedlings, with the DA as guarantor.

National Irrigation Administration’s (NIA) Antonio Nangel said that the irrigation system is the key to rice sufficiency in the country.

“Since President Aquino assumed post, we were able to build 150,000 hectares of irrigation canals. Our target is 290,000 hectares of irrigated canals for 2013,” the NIA administrator reported.

Nangel said they expect 300,000 hectares to benefit from the new irrigation canals that would be finished next year, which is more than the 290,000 hectares target of DA and NIA.