Rice import target for 2013 set at 100,000 MT

MANILA, Philippines - The government is projecting a rice importation range of zero to 100,000 metric tons in 2013 on expectations of better palay yield in the second half of the year. Next year, the government is also expected to lay down the ground work for rice exportation.

Agriculture officials said the administration’s goal of attaining rice sufficiency and exportation ability is attainable in the short term but will still be a challenge because of the occasional occurrence of typhoons.

In an interview at the sidelines of Makina Saka 2012 at the World Trade Center yesterday, Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said the government would carefully consider the country’s importation needs for next year.

“If we see that the production exceeds the requirement, why would we need to import? Should we import (rice), it should just be enough for us to have a buffer stock,” he said. “For us to attain food sufficiency, we have to consider our buffer stock. We should have enough.”

President Aquino, who was a guest at the agricultural machinery trade show, expressed confidence that the Philippines would be self-sufficient in rice by 2013 and would soon be an exporter.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) has set a target palay production of 18.46 million metric tons (MT) this year and 500,000 MT of rice programmed for importation.

In 2011, the Philippines produced 16. 68 million MT and imported 860,000 MT of rice. The private sector imported 600,000 MT while the NFA imported 200,000 MT. The balance was imported by farmers groups.

Alcala said that to lessen importation, the government is strengthening the palay procurement capability of the NFA. The department has sought an additional budget of P1 billion from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

The DA expects palay output to have risen five percent in the first semester of this year from 7.57 million MT in the same period last year. This is attributed to the practice of advance cropping in the early part of the year and the improvement of irrigation systems.

Agriculture assistant secretary and national rice program coordinator Dante Delima said that importation for next year is expected to be significantly lower even if palay production target is not exceeded this year because of improvement in yield.

The government targets to have a production of more than 20 million MT. To support this, the NFA should procure at least seven percent of the requirement.

“Next year, the NFA should procure seven percent (of the palay production requirement)” he said. “But at five percent, it should be enough.”

He admitted that achieving rice sufficiency and exportation ability in the short term is a daunting task but can be done gradually.

“In 2013, we can start laying down the ground for export. But now, we have to concentrate on (rice) sufficiency,” he said.

For exportation, the agriculture department is considering long grain and aromatic rice varieties such as Basmati rice.