President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is meeting officials of the Department of Agriculture (DA) today as he is worried that the recent storms and the worst of the El Nino season will leave the country without sufficient stocks of rice and send its price spiraling out of control.
In a recent press conference while giving out aid to the storm-stricken provinces in Northern Luzon, the President said he was nervous that the market price of rice would skyrocket despite the government’s plan to import more of the staple through the private sector.
Owing to the Rice Tariffication Law, the government itself through the National Food Authority can no longer import rice, leaving the privilege solely to private importers.
But after typhoon “Egay” flattened P1.54 billion worth of crops across thousands of hectares of farmland planted to mostly rice and corn, the DA must explore other means to bolster the country’s current rice buffer stock of just 1.54 days — far below the required 9 days.
Several rice stakeholders are already predicting that the price of rice will increase by as much as P4 per kilo, as the grain’s price is also high at present in the world market.
As the government inventory is nearly depleted while the majority of farmlands are still submerged, Mr. Marcos called for a meeting today to discuss the prospects of importing rice.
“Everybody’s preparing for E l Niño. Almost al rice-consuming nations in Southeast Asia are buying rice simultaneously. This is problematic.
We need to increase the production of rice, corn (and), all agriculture crops lest we’ll be at a great disadvantage once El Niño sets in. Our (food) supply will be in jeopardy,” he said.
The President worries that country rice inventory will not suffice in the light of an impending dry spell.
The Federation of Free Farmers (FFF) said it will be difficult for the government to import rice with the RTL in place since the NFA is prohibited from importing.
“If the government is to import, it will be too late. They should have acted earlier so that farmers like us could have planted more and increased production in the first semester. This is a big problem and it will be burdensome for the government. We’ve no idea what the government can do about this,” said FFF national manager Raul Montemayor.
In the aftermath of Egay, the persistent southwest monsoon or “habagat” and current Typhoon Falcon left thousands of rice fields flooded and thousands of farmers without their seasonal crops.
The municipality of Mamburao in Occidental Mindoro as well as Abulog in Cagayan are still steeped from the flood, as farmers are seeking assistance from legislators in the form of food for work.
With less than 2 days of government rice inventory left, the DA fears that prices of commercial rice from the private sector inventory will increase dramatically.
Based on the rule of thumb, the ideal buffer stock should be at least 9 days based on the average annual average per capita rice consumption of 66 kilograms.
What’s bothering the government is that the price of rice in the international market is also increasing, and may influence local prices, not to mention the government is powerless to bring in more rice according to the Rice Tariffication Law.
Under the RTL, only the private sector can import the commodity. Prior to the law, the National Food Authority (NFA) brings in rice through a public bidding among rice traders. But with the law in place, the NFA’s role is limited to monitoring the supply and price of rice, and buffer stocking of locally-produced rice.
