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Rice harvest up, but output slowsdown

Posted on May 15, 2008

PHILIPPINE NEWS SERVICE — FARM production rose 4 percent in the first quarter, but the Philippines produced less rice than expected after cold weather damaged crops and farmers failed to use hybrid seeds, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said.

Production of rough rice grew 2 percent to 3.75 million metric tons in the three months ended March 31, compared with a year earlier, Yap told reporters.

That’s slower than the 9.3-percent growth projected in a January government report and compares with a 10-percent gain in the fourth quarter.

The Philippines and other Asian nations are seeking to raise agricultural output and reduce dependence on imports as prices of grain, including rice, surged to records this year.

A lower-than-expected harvest may jeopardize the government’s target to produce a record 17.3 million tons of rough rice this year.

“That will add to concerns that the Philippines will increase purchases in the world market,” David Cohen, director of Asian economic forecasting at Action Economics, said by telephone from Singapore today.

“We’ve seen nervousness about potential supply shortages. It’s hard to get people to relax with the government missing its rice target.”

Still, output growth might accelerate in the second quarter, helping the government reach its target of expanding output to over 7 million tons in the first half of the year, Yap said.

“Farmers have already replanted the areas hit” by cold weather, he said.

The Bureau of Agricultural Statistics said that rough rice output may grow in the first half by 5.7 percent to 7.11 million tons, down from January’s projected growth of 6.3 percent to 7.15 million tons. The January forecast had assumed first-quarter production of about 4 million tons.

Output may expand 9.5 percent in the third quarter to 3.45 million tons from a year ago, according to the new estimates.

The cold spell led to losses of 100,000 tons of rough rice, Bureau of Agricultural Statistics Director Romeo Recide said.

Production was also reduced by the reluctance of farmers to switch to hybrid seeds to boost yields.

“Farmers were very choosy about the hybrid seeds that they wanted to use,” Yap said, adding that some opted to plant lower- yielding certified seeds if they couldn’t find a particular brand.

Certified seeds yield between 4.5 and 5.5 tons a hectare, compared with as much as 7.5 tons for hybrid seeds, according to the Agriculture Department.

The price of rice, staple for half the world, has more than doubled in the past year, as the Philippines and Nigeria, the world’s top buyers, sought supplies.

The Philippines requires about 12 million tons of milled rice a year for local consumption, and last year imported 1.9 million tons to make up a shortfall. The government has bought about 1.7 million tons for this year out of planned imports of 2.1 million tons.

The Philippines is negotiating a loan with Japan for the supply of 60,000 tons of the grain for delivery this year, Yap said.

He said the rice might be shipped as soon as the National Food Authority, the state-run grain trader, finished the paperwork.

Rough rice for July delivery traded at $22.43 per 100 pounds at 12:18 p.m. Manila time Tuesday, down from a record $25.07 reached on April 24.

The Philippines’ output of corn, its third-largest crop, rose 17 percent to 2 million tons, according to the data released to reporters Tuesday.

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