Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said Friday the Philippines must achieve rice sufficiency within the next two years.
Piñol said in a press briefing achieving rice sufficiency had become a must and was no longer a choice for the country.
Piñol said all regional directors would be given all the support they needed like irrigation, seeds, fertilizers and farm inputs for the next two cropping seasons.
“We have to have rice sufficiency in two years time. If this is not achieved, I will kick them out. They have to achieve rice sufficiency in their respective regions. Any director who will not be able to do that will be voted out of service,” Piñol said. “They will be asked to resign because I believe in results. For every assistance that I give, there should be results.”
He cited the high cost of production and low productivity in the rice sector.
“If we can lower the cost of production and increase the production by providing the proper interventions, then the income of the farmer will be greater and we could actually reduce the cost of rice in the market,” Piñol said.