By Cielito M. Reganit
MANILA, (PNA) — Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala Thursday maintained that the country can attain rice self sufficiency goal this year and needs no additional importation contrary to the reported projections made by the National Economic Development Authority and the DA’s Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS).
According to BAS, forecast palay production for this year is 18.566 million metric tons (MT) — which is 1.434 million MT short of the 20 million MT that DA said is needed to achieve rice self-sufficiency for the period.
However, Alcala said the figures presented by BAS Director Romeo Recide during a recent Senate inquiry failed to include the beginning rice inventory balance which stood at 2.524 MMT.
“This statistical lapse, which has been cited in many debates for and against the country’s quest for food staples sufficiency, spelled a world of difference,” he said.
“We owe it to every Filipino to rectify that lapse, and that’s what we have been doing through every opportunity we can get,” Alcala said.
According to the DA, this year’s production forecast is equivalent to 12.068 million MT of rice.
Adding to this is the total rice imports made by the National Food Authority (NFA) and private sector totaling 213.1 MT, the 30.7 MT of confiscated rice, and the beginning rice inventory of 2.524 million MT that would give a total of 14.836 million MT supply of the staple food.
“This is more than enough to cover the rice demand of about 12.6 million MT,” Alcala said.
The excess totaling 2.236 million MT will serve as buffer stock that would cover 74 days of the country’s requirements, the DA said.
“Barring any major calamity, we would achieve our (rice) self sufficiency goals by 2013 as projected,” Alcala said.
As such, the DA chief said there is no need to import more of the grains as proposed earlier by the NEDA due to the supposed supply gap.
“I continue to uphold consensus decision-making, especially on key policy issues,” he stressed.
Alcala said the DA and its grains agency, the NFA, have been following a calibrated approach and an established process in dealing with rice importation.
The country’s main harvest occurs in the second half of the year, the wet season crop, which produces 60 percent of the annual output, he explained.
“Thus, decisions on whether to import and how much are usually finalized by the NFA Council at the start of the succeeding year taking into account the inventory at the end of the year and the outlook for the first semester or the dry season crop,” he said.
Alcala said the DA continues to be guided by the policy pronouncement of President Benigno S. Aquino III during his second State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 25, 2011.
In it, President Aquino said: “Ang gusto nating mangyari: Una, hindi na tayo aangkat ng hindi kailangan. Ikalawa, ayaw na nating umasa sa pag-angkat. Ang isasaing ni Juan de la Cruz dito ipupunla, dito aanihin, dito bibilhin.”