DA aims for rice sufficiency by 2016

Manila, Philippines - By 2016, the Department of Agriculture (DA) expects the country to achieve self-sufficiency in rice and other food staples.

Under the department’s ambitious Food Staples Sufficiency Program (FSSP), this entails strengthening the production capacity of farms through improved farm inputs such as irrigation and mechanization and weaning the country from imports.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) has set a palay production target of 18.46 million metric tons (MT) this year, 500,000 MT of which is programmed for importation. By 2013, importation is expected to be reduced to only 100,000 MT.

In 2011, the Philippines produced 16.68 million MT and imported 860,000 MT. The private sector imported 600,000 MT while the Nartional Food Authority (NFA) imported 200,000 MT. The balance was imported by farmers groups.

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 participation of farmers in the early cropping scheme in the early part of the year and the improvement of irrigation systems.

Some 150,000 hectares of irrigated farms – many of which are located in Regions 1 (Ilocos Region), 2 (Cagayan Valley) and 3 (Central Luzon) – were used for early cropping in the first semester.

For next year, the government targets a palay production of 20 million MT.

To lessen importation, the DA is seeking an additional budget of P1 billion from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to strengthen the palay procurement capability of the NFA.

By 2014, it is expected that the country will be weaned from exports and will soon be an exporter.

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

To mitigate the ill effects of bad weather on palay production, the department is allotting P240 million for the purchase of high-quality seeds as buffer stock in the event of natural calamities and other unforeseen events that may affect rice production.

The buffer stock seeds will be procured from local seed growers.

The government also continues to implement the quantitative restriction (QR) on rice even after the expiration on June 30 to prevent the influx of cheap rice into the country that will hurt the local industry.

The current QR has set a minimum access volume (MAV) of 350,000 metric tons for rice imports subject to 40 percent duty. Imports outside of MAV are slapped a 50 percent tariff.

The government has communicated to the World Trade Organization (WTO) its intention to begin talks on extending the QR on rice which was approved in 2006.

Countries such as the United States, Canada, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and El Salvador have expressed interest in negotiating for an extension of the QR.

To convince other countries to support the extension of the QR, the government is offering market access for the importation of other agricultural products such as vegetables.

The government also aims to make farm mechanization in the country at par with neighboring countries Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam within five to 10 years.

The Philippines currently has a farm mechanization level of 0.57 horsepower per hectare against a farm mechanization rate of 0.80 horsepower per hectare in Thailand and Malaysia and 0.70 hp/ha in Vietnam.

Within Asia, Japan and Korea has the highest farm mechanization rate in the region at seven hp/ha and four hp/ha respectively.

Increased farm mechanization, or the use of machinery to ease drudgery and time spent on crop cultivation and maintenance, can significantly shorten land preparation.

This year, the department has a budget of P2.6 billion for farm machinery subsidies. Last year, the department released P1 billion; for 2013, a budget of P2.4 billion has been allotted for farm mechanization.

During the mechanization program’s six-year duration, the government will distribute up to 7,000 postharvest units and 90,000 units of on-farm machineries.

Under the farm modernization program, the DA can subsidize up to 85 percent of the acquisition costs of farm machineries by qualified farmer organizations and irrigators’ associations.

The remaining 15 percent of the acquisition cost can be shouldered by the beneficiaries themselves, their respective local government units or other private entities.