Farmers nix move to allow rice imports during harvest season

The Philippine Farmers Advisory Board (PFAB), a network of national and local farmers’ organizations which advises the National Food Authority (NFA), has turned down the proposal of some farmers’ groups to extend the deadline for the arrival of rice imports up to the end of the year.

Under the Farmers as Importers (FAI) program, qualified farmers’ groups were awarded quotas to import part of the rice deficit needed during the lean months of July to September this year. 

Accordingly, they were given until Sept. 30 to bring in the rice stocks. However, only about 170,000 metric tons actually arrived before the deadline, leaving a balance of 230,000 metric tons of unused quotas. 

Quota holders are now asking for an extension of the deadline to Dec. 30 so they will not be subject to the 50 percent penalty for late arrivals.

However, the PFAB, chaired by Raul Montemayor, noted that palay harvests are still ongoing in many parts of the country and will extend up to the end of the year. 

It added that palay farmgate prices were already in a decline due to the influx of new harvests. Hence, allowing additional imports to come in would only compound the problem for farmers, many of whom are just recovering from typhoons and calamities. 

The PFAB further clarified that rice stocks are more than sufficient at the moment because of the new harvests. Therefore, imports would be needed only next year when the country again enters the third-quarter lean months.

PFAB officials noted that farmers’ groups in the past had often criticized the NFA for importing rice during the harvest season. 

They said it would be doubly ironic if farmers’ groups themselves are now allowed to import rice when their own members are harvesting. 

They added that President Arroyo presumably intended the FAI program to benefit farmers, and not to harm them.

The PFAB nevertheless considered the complaints of quota holders that they experienced major difficulties in undertaking imports and had to contend with stiff competition from both the NFA and private traders in marketing their quotas. 

The PFAB supported their call for changes in the guidelines and procedures, but reiterated that allowing them to import during harvest time in order to recover from their problems, carried the risk of harming their own members.

The PFAB is composed of nine major national farmers’ organizations and representatives from 13 regional farmers’ action councils which, in turn, are composed of about 70 provincial-level farmers’ action councils.