Govt vows to sustain sufficient rice supply despite El Niño risk
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HE country’s rice supply remains sufficient amid growing public concern of a rice supply shortage and price increase because of the looming impact of El Niño, an official said.
“We must sustain the needs of our country, which is pegged at 37,000 metric tons [MT] a day,” DA Assistant Secretary and deputy spokesperson Rex Estoperez said.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) has announced the possibility of an El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) that may occur during the third quarter of 2023 until 2024.
While the El Niño Watch raised concerns on rice sufficiency in the Philippines, a study by the Department of Agriculture (Da)–national Rice Program (NRP) estimated that the ending stock of palay for the first quarter of 2023, which is about 5.66 million metric tons (MMT), is good for 51 days.
This consists of 1.77 MMT of beginning stock, 3.12 million MT of locally produced rice, and 774,050.44 MT of imported rice, which was based on the Bureau of Customs’ import arrivals record as of March 16 and the DA’S Bureau of Plant Industry arrival report as of March 23.
A surge in the estimated rice supply is also expected upon incorporation of the harvests in March and April.
On the other hand, farm-gate prices for fresh and dry palay (unhusked rice) as of April 3 were at P17.98 and P21.07 per kilo, respectively.
Both experienced an increase as compared to the previous month’s record—p17.29 per kilo of fresh palay and P19.23 for a kilo of dry palay.
From March 3 to April 3, Metro Manila market prices for locally produced special rice remained at P54 per kilo.
Well-milled and regular milled rice experienced a 3.65 and 2.77 percent price increase, while premium rice was sold for a lower price at P44.50 per kilogram.
While the dry season provides better conditions for drying newly harvested palay, the DA said a price increase might happen depending on any situational changes, for instance, the added value due to the high quality of dry palay.
“Maybe we’ll see this El Niño [if prices go up]. Maybe we in the national government, we can address that based on the supply, so maybe it won’t work because it’s a projection. But let’s look at it, we have to look at the consumers as well,” Estoperez said.
In preparation for the El Niño phenomenon, the DA has been providing strengthened and readily available irrigation services, targeting 1.5 million hectares of well-irrigated areas in partnership with the National Irrigation Administration (NIA).
Fertilizer bags will also be purchased by the DA for distribution among farmers’ cooperatives and associations under the clustering and consolidation approach to boost rice production in the country.
Moreover, the agri department also reactivated its National El Niño Task Force and will enforce its enhanced El Niño Mitigation and Adaptation Plan, to include interventions such as cloud seeding over the watersheds of affected reservoirs, provision of production support for crops, livestock and fisheries sub-sectors from pre to post-el Niño, conduct of information campaigns geared towards water conservation and active community participation, and reinforced coordination with the Pagasa, NIA, Office of Civil Defense, DA regional field offices, and other concerned agencies.
The DA seeks 100 percent rice self-sufficiency by 2027 through its Masagana Rice Program 2023-2028.
The said program aims to stabilize the country’s rice supply to 24.99 to 26.86 MMT, lower rice inflation to less than 1 percent annually, increase farmers’ income by 54 percent, and ensure rice availability and safety at all times by maintaining sufficient rice buffer stock at the Da-national Food Authority as mandated by the Republic Act 11203 or the Rice Tariffication law.