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Friday, March 29, 2024

Replacing quantitative import restrictions on rice

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Senate Bill No. 1998: Replacing Quantitative Import Restrictions on Rice with Tariffs

Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph G. Recto “‹

(Part 1)

I have always said that there’s an unli-rice loving gene in our DNA. It shows in our per capita rice consumption, which is 108 kilograms a year. But for most people, like me, it shows up in our abs.

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Allow me to illustrate my point further, Mr. President, by computing how much rice we 24 senators, and our spouses, consume in a year, and how it is produced.

Forty eight people would require 5,177 kilos, or 103 and a half sacks, a year. But rice does not come milled—it has to be dehusked from palay.

To produce the equivalent of 5,177 kilos, or 5.17 metric tons, we need 7,803 kilos of palay. And to be able to harvest that amount, we have to plant rice in two hectares, or 20,000 square meters—the size of 48 basketball courts.

Just for 48 people alone. And we are 108 million crammed in this sliver of land. That is why we devote 4.8 million hectares of land to produce this staple.

Suppose the 48 of us hire a farmer to contract-grow our rice consumption. What will be his net income? What travails will he have to go through so we can have a bowl of fragrant rice?

First, Mr. President, he needs water, because rice is one crop with a serious drinking problem.

To produce one Coke litro of rice, you need 1,000 Coke litros of water. So rice is dependent on the grace of God, meaning good weather, and good governance as well, which means man-made irrigation. Fortunately, we have a surplus of the former, and unfortunately, a shortage of the latter.

After marinating the soil, our contract-grower, or let us say, our senatorial tenant, will now be ready to plow.

If he uses a carabao, he will slog through about 45 kilometers of thigh-deep mud, with a plow in one hand, and the reins of a half-ton beast of burden on the other. Mas mahaba pa kaysa sa isang marathon.

If he uses a hand tractor, it will cut his man-hours by half.

Ang lupa po for rice planting ay mas mabusisi pa ang preparasyon kesa sa buhok ng isang dalagang ikakasal. I-aararo ng dalawang beses, isusuklay, isusuyod.

When the soil assumes champorado texture, pwede na magtanim. Dalawang paraan ang ginagamit: Direct broadcast of seeds o sabog, or transplant, where seeds will germinate in a plot, the seedlings uprooted, then transported to the field for transplanting.

Dito papasok yung national soundtrack ng rice planting. “Magtanim ay di biro, maghapon nakayuko.”

To plant palay in one hectare of land, something like 200,000 clutches of seedlings will be pierced into the soil. Kung sampu ang magtatanim, mga 20,000 repetitive motions are required of each.

Di hamak, talo ang 3,000 forward bends ng ating Pambansang Kamao na ginagawa niya tuwing umaga kapag siya ay nasa training.

Pag natanim, kailangan bantayan ang tubig. And the countryside is littered with the bodies of those who have fallen in these neighborhood water wars.

Then the field is fertilized, weeded and sprayed with pesticides.

After 12 weeks, the grains begin to sprout. When their color turns golden, they will be subjected to ceaseless attacks from air, ground, and water.

Early on, amphibian kuhols will wade to the stems. Later, mayas will divebomb from the air. Rats will burrow beneath.

The farmer’s protection against them is feeble—a scarecrow and a string of empty cans for some acoustic warfare.

Pagkalipas ng 30 araw, pwede na anihin. Mabilisan minsan, buong gabi kung parating ang bagyong tulad ni Ompong. The clump of rice stacks can be cut by hand, or by small reaping machines, or those big boxy combines which spill out grains.

Kapag naani na, hindi pwedeng lutuin. Malayo pa ang lalakbayin bago masaing.

Kung manu-mano tulad ng dati, it has to be threshed and winnowed. Buti na lang mayroon nang mga makinang gumagawa nito.

Pagkatapos ay isasako. Pero bago dalhin sa gilingan, ibibilad muna, para mawala ang moisture content, tumigas ang butil at hindi mapulbos kapag giniling.

Solar drying is a tedious process. You transport the bags to the roadside—kasi nga ang kalsada sa atin ay drying pavements din—ibubuhos mo, you rake it, then rebag it.

Ready na for milling. During milling the palay will lose about 35 percent of its weight. Ito yung tinatawag nila na milling, or retention, or conversion rate. Isasako muli. Dadalhin sa palengke. Pwede na lutuin.

Pati sa pagluto, sobrang arte ng bigas. Dapat 1:1 ang ratio ng water to rice, under the right amount of fire otherwise it will turn into a congee or toasted rice. Pag nahilaw, ang ginagawa dati, nilalagyan pa ng asin sa takip, na may sabay na sign of the cross.

Kapag luto na, highly perishable, hindi pwede abutan ng hapon.

And all these troubles, for rice high in carbs and sugar, which has transformed us into a nation of Diabetics Anonymous.

Magkano naman ang kita nung magsasaka na kinontrata ng 48 na tao para magsupply ng bigas sa kanila?

Kung hindi siya mamalasin, per cropping, two hectares of rice land will gross about P152,000, a year ago. Deducting expenses, the net was about P74,000.

In two croppings per year, in perfect weather conditions, pest- and pestilence-free: about P148,000. Or P12,333 per month, about minimum wage level. (Continued tomorrow)

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