MANILA, Philippines — The Marcos administration is looking to lessen imports of rice and corn with a primary mandate to boost production of the two food staples until the end of the year.
In a briefing yesterday, President Marcos – who is also the concurrent agriculture chief – said the Department of Agriculture (DA) was tasked to boost production of rice and corn in the coming two quarters or until after Christmas to ensure food supply.
“We would prefer to import as little as possible,” he said, noting that “this is a strategic food supply measure.”
“But of course, if there is importation substitution, that’s not necessarily a bad thing so that’s the plan,” Marcos said.
Raising corn production has become important since it is now being used as a substitute for feed wheat given global supply concerns.
“Our supply for the feedwheat we were importing has been cut off, so we needed to substitute it with corn. This season, corn growers were able to go together and provide sufficient feed for broiler production,” Marcos said.
“But we still have to increase production of corn to ensure supply. There’s corn for food and there’s corn for feed,” he said.
For pork, the Philippines would need to continue importing given the continuous spreading of African Swine Fever (ASF) across the country.
“When it comes to pork, we cannot control the ASF for various reasons. So, we still have to import a lot of pork products,” Marcos said.
As of June 23, data from the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) showed the ASF has already affected 14 regions, 54 provinces, 713 cities and municipalities and 3,883 barangays.
Marcos said the same goes for chicken products since local production has been low due to high prices of feeds, fuel and logistics.
“For broiler production we still have to import. We’re having problems in the feeds…our production is not sufficient again,” he said.
Last month, the DA attributed the continued increase in chicken prices to reduced supply of broilers.
United Broiler Raisers Association president Jose Elias Inciong earlier said erratic quality of feeds because of disruptions in supply chains coupled with very humid weather caused an underperformance in production.
Marcos stressed the need to ensure food supply in the country that is affordable for every Filipino.
“You cannot build a strong economy unless you have a foundation of a robust agriculture sector which assures food supply even in emergencies,” he said.
The agriculture sector is a top priority of the Marcos administration, with a promise to attain food self-sufficiency and reduce the country’s dependence on importation.