EDITORIAL - Rice self-sufficiency

It’s good to know that there has been a bumper rice harvest, which means the country’s rice imports will be cut down by more than half this year. The Department of Agriculture reported last week that because of an increase in rice production, the country will be importing 390,000 metric tons of the staple this year instead of the 690,000 that was originally planned.

There was a time when the Philippines was an exporter of rice. Philippine researchers developed rice varieties that produced bigger and better yields. Instead of sustaining rice production levels, however, the country slowly became an importer. These days you can buy pandan-flavored rice from Thailand and fragrant rice from Vietnam alongside the different varieties of local rice in supermarkets. Even production of the prized mountain rice from the terraced paddies of Banaue has been neglected. We can buy similar varieties these days, but most of them are imported.

Worse, there has been no letup in the smuggling of rice into the country. While consumers may enjoy the cheaper rice, the smuggled items are killing local farmers, further endangering production of the staple. Smuggling has become a major problem particularly because if reports are to be believed, it has become a large-scale operation run by influential people with the connivance of personnel from various government agencies. The smuggling has apparently continued unabated even after the change of administration.

As the government deals with rice smuggling, it should also focus on increasing rice production. Weather can’t be used as an excuse for falling rice production. Our rice-exporting neighbors are subject to the same weather disturbances such as El Niño, La Niña, monsoons and typhoons. They used to borrow rice production technology from the Philippines. How did they overtake us and sustain their lead?

A bumper rice harvest is always good news. Now the government must work to sustain this increase in rice production. Self-sufficiency in the national staple should be a cornerstone of any food production program.