Typhoons force RP to import rice

MANILA, Philippines - President Arroyo has ordered agriculture officials to import rice amid an expected supply crunch next year following devastating typhoons that battered the farm sector, her spokesman said yesterday.

Typhoon “Pepeng,” which hit Luzon Saturday, leaving at least 15 dead, swamped large swathes of farm land just a week after tropical storm “Ondoy” dumped the heaviest rainfall in more than four decades on Manila.

Ondoy, international name Ketsana, left 293 dead and affected over three million people.

The typhoons have caused extensive damage to the farm sector and Arroyo has ordered free seedlings for farmers, her spokesman Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said.

“Secondly, President Arroyo is anticipating food shortages (and) she has ordered the Department of Agriculture to import (rice) at the earliest possible time,” Remonde said.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said initial damage to the farm sector wrought by the two typhoons stood at 5.5 billion pesos (117 million dollars). The figure was expected to rise once a full assessment of the damage comes in.

Yap said there were enough stocks of rice for the whole year, but the impact on the supply could be felt by the first half of next year.

“We don’t see a supply problem for 2009, because that is provided for in our buffer stock,” Yap said over local radio. “Our issue now is dry crops for 2010.”

The Philippines relies heavily on imports to feed its rapidly growing population of 92 million.

In 2008, the country was forced to buy some 2.3 million tons of rice despite record world prices. This year, it has so far imported 1.7 million tons from Vietnam.

Ketsana however has not spared rice producer Vietnam, where it killed 162 people and flooded large areas in the countryside.

Mrs. Arroyo also ordered Yap to immediately extend assistance to farmers displaced by Ondoy and Pepeng to help them recover and ensure the country’s food supply in the coming months.

Officials said Ondoy hit Metro Manila and nearby provinces but other parts of the country as far as Mindanao were also affected. 

Yap said damage to agriculture caused by Ondoy amounted to P5.4 billion and this is expected to increase as typhoon Pepeng slammed into agricultural regions in Luzon over the weekend.

Remonde said Mrs. Arroyo directed Yap to give distressed farmers free seeds to allow them to replant crops.

“The Department of Agriculture was also asked to import rice at the earliest possible time,” he said.

Mrs. Arroyo visited yesterday Nueva Ecija and Pampanga, among the major rice producing provinces in the country. – Paolo Romero