Producers warn of rice shortage after typhoons

BAGUIO CITY - Three of the country's top 10 rice-producing provinces warned that rice supply may run low after typhoons battered Luzon.

The devastation came in the wake of a warning by Sen. Loren Legarda last week of a situation similar to the 1995 rice crisis when indecisive stockpiling on the part of the government and the adverse effects of rogue weather systems had caused havoc on the country's rice supply.

Legarda, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Climate Change, based her observation on the September 10 National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) Sec. Arsenio Balisacan's Memorandum for Presoident Benigno Aquino III, warning of “food security issues” should the government fail to address a projected rice production deficit of as much as 1.4 million metric tons (MT).

However, amid these warnings, Department of Agriculture (DA) Sec. Proceso Alcala had insisted on the agency’s rice self-sufficiency figures, even if these have relied heavily on favorable weather conditions.

Alcala said “because of good weather condition, the country can produce 13.03 million MT of milled rice, exceeding the domestic demand of 11.23 million MT.”

With Santi pummeling Central Luzon, however, Alcala's optimism over the country’s rice produce can no longer hold water as 15,000 hectares of about-to-be-harvested rice fields were damaged in Nueva Ecija. 

“We haven't assessed yet but because of strong winds, our harvestable palay have mostly been damaged,” said Nueva Ecija Gov. Aurelio Umali.

In Bulacan, another 10,000 hectares of ricelands were “totally damaged," said Gov. Wilhelmino Sy-Alvarado.

Tarlac too sustained a huge blow in its rice-growing sectors particularly in towns along the stretch of McArthur Highway, according to the Tarlac's Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC).

Central Luzon produced 3,220,607 MT of palay in 2012, where about half come from Nueva Ecija.  Bulacan produced 351,307 MT during the same period, while Tarlac reaped 549,299 MT.

According to the NEDA, harvests from Central Luzon would account significantly for the country's fourth quarter harvests making up for its third quarter dismal performance. 

Even then, according to Balisacan, “even if rice production rebounds in Q4, deficits are expected to be incurred from as low as 0.5 million MT … to as high as 1.4 million MT.”

Hence, NEDA had recommended the immediate importation of 500,000 MT to make up for the production deficit, though in a previous policy issuance, the economic policy planning office maintained that importation was the “primary domain of the private sector."

Earlier on,  the DA and National Food Authority's government-led importation in April was tainted with controversies as it was allegedly overpriced by as much as P457 million.