MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Agriculture has set the country’s palay (unhusked rice) production target at 19 million metric tons this year.
At 19 million MT, the country will still fail to hit its rice self-sufficiency goal.
“For us to hit a higher target, we need at least 20 million metric tons but we were not given the budget needed to hit the 20-million mark. We asked for additional budget (for rice sufficiency) but it was not granted. So don’t expect higher production,” Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said yesterday.
“If you want us to reach the 100 percent rice sufficiency level, we need more seeds,” Alcala said.
Last year, palay production reached 18.149 million MT, lower than the DA’s 19.5 million target due to the long dry spell and the calamities that hit the country.
The National Food Authority, on the other hand, decided that the Philippines might not need to import rice for the first quarter of 2016 given sufficient rice supply and the projected impact of El Niño phenomenon.
The Food Security Committee said there is enough rice supply until the end of June with rice stock inventory currently standing at 944,500 MT, which is good for 29 days and is 80 percent higher compared to stocks during the same period last year.
The entire rice industry inventory, including household and commercial stocks, is also sufficient and good for 110 days.
According to the NFA, total rice importation contracted for this year is conservative at 500,000 MT through a government-to-government procurement with Vietnam and Thailand. It was contracted last year to get the lowest possible price.
“We will definitely need additional volume for import. But, NFA is in a position to monitor how much remains from previous years’ importation,” Alcala said.