No additional rice imports seen for this year

MANILA, Philippines - Agriculture Secretary Arthur C. Yap remains confident the country will not have to import additional rice stocks this year based on first half projection of a higher palay (paddy rice) harvest of 7.4 million metric tons (MMT) by the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics.

The projected 7.4-MMT palay harvest for the first half of this year is slightly higher than the actual harvest of 7.1 MMT in the same period last year and 6.7 MMT for the first half of 2007.

The projected higher palay production for the first half of this year, Yap said, is due to the higher prices being enjoyed by farmers.

Yap said rice farm gate prices is now ranging between P28 to P32 per kilogram.

Yap added that there has been a 104 percent achievement in the amount of rice seeds “planted on the ground.”

Likewise, he reported there has been a two to three percent increase in areas planted to rice.

Thus for the whole of 2009, Yap projects a total palay production of closer to 17.2 MMT compared to the actual production last year of 16.9 MMT.

However, the projected palay production this year is lower than the previously target production of 17.81 MMT.

According to Yap, the government has already imported about 70 percent to 80 percent of its rice requirement this year.

However, he admitted that there are still a lot of factors that may come into play during the year that could affect palay production and could force a reassessment of rice imports.

At the same time, Yap said the Department of Agriculture has no plans to increase its palay support price of P17 per kilogram.

Last month, Frisco Malabanan, national coordinator of the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA)-Rice Program, reported that the areas planted to both hybrid and certified inbred seeds (CS) have reached 1,157,404 hectares as of mid-February, or some 386,775 hectares more than the area planted to CS last year during the same period.

“All these factors plus good weather will contribute to a good palay harvest this dry crop,” Malabanan said. Harvesting would start late March, peaking in April.

The dry season harvest would add to the stock inventory of the National Food Authority (NFA).

Massive palay procurement last year enabled the NFA to accumulate a record volume of 685,000 metric tons in 2008 — the highest in almost 30 years and 1,975 percent higher compared to 2007’s stock inventory of 33,000 MT.