NFA closes local rice supply gap, starts stockpiling

(Updated 1:10 p.m.) MANILA, Philippines – Despite denying a shortage of rice supply in previous months, the Department of Agriculture (DA) on Friday said the government has now contracted enough rice volume to compensate for the supply “gap.”

At the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Los Baños in Laguna province, DA Sec. Arthur Yap said the National Food Authority (NFA) now has covered local demand for rice, but is continuing procurement for additional supply as part of its efforts to beef up the country’s rice stockpile.

“The NFA has already contracted enough volumes to take care of our gap and right now, additional procurement of NFA stocks (are being made) for purposes of buffer stocking,” Yap said.

For her part, President Gloria Macapagal said the public should not be alarmed of unsubstantiated talks of shortage in rice supply, saying the government has closed rice importation deals with Thailand and Vietnam to cover the 10% shortfall in domestic rice supply.

“We can take it or leave it depending on how rice prices are,” President Arroyo said.

Mrs Arroyo noted that the Philippines is not among the 36 countries classified by the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization to be experiencing a rice crisis.

Meanwhile, the Agriculture Department signed a five-year memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) for the acceleration of rice production in the Philippines.

President Arroyo witnessed the MOA signing.

During the event, Yap also presented a three-year rice self-sufficiency program to President Arroyo that is similar to past strategies on irrigation, technology, extension services and credit support, it is new in four areas – scope, advances in current rice technology, standing commitment, and management approach.

“The plan is vital focusing provincial productivity to underscore our emphasis on increasing yields and the realization that the active involvement of the local governments in extension and monitoring work will be indispensable to the success of the plan,” Yap said.

“It is our prayer that someday soon we will see the day when bountiful and profitable harvest will assure that Filipinos can eat as much rice as they please with enough to share with the world,” he added.

Yap said he will meet with governors and Sen. Edgardo Angara, a former Agriculture chief, to map out a plan to roll out a partnership for extension services and credit.

“Considering the devolution of the DA’s technicians, strong and innovative partnerships with local government units are needed to see the plan through,” Yap said.

Yap said they had been “painstakingly reviewing lessons learned from the past 30 years” to complete the plan for self-sufficiency from 2008 to 2010. He added this should complement the government’s P43-billion FIELDS program for self-sufficiency in food.

He said the plan also calls for the establishment for the very first time of a national post-harvest program, “through the distribution of community-based flatbed dryers and drying central that seeks to address the more than 5% in drying losses from our annual harvest.”

In terms of rice technology, farmers can access seeds that can produce an average of 180 cavans per hectare during the dry season.

He noted that while Thailand may be exporting rice, it does not mean the Filipino farmer is less productive.

“Pretty soon farmers will be able to access and breed seeds that are tolerant to certain diseases, flooding and dry spells. These are some of the seeds being tried right now, which the president was able to witness this morning,” Yap said.

Yap said that while past, rice masterplans were implemented on a large unfocused scale, modern technology and scientific advances demand that projects are implemented within compact cluster areas.

Yap said they will plan a clustering approach using clusters of 40 to 100 hectares, and will involve irrigators associations and agrarian reform communities.

“It is our hope that our national and local leaders, farmers stakeholders and our countrymen in general will rally behind and support this plan,” Yap said.

Yap and Zeigler both said Filipino farmers are more productive than Thai farmers and generally use less pesticides than other Southeast Asian farmers.

Both said the rice production target of 5 tons per hectare will make the Philippines the most productive in the region, ahead of Vietnam and Indonesia. - GMANews.TV