The Department of Agriculture is keeping to its target of producing 20.44 million metric tons of palay this year and remains hopeful this could still be achieved despite the impact of El Nino.
“We’re optimistic since it’s still early June. We’re still aiming for that. We’re doing our best to achieve that,” said undersecretary Chris Morales, who is in-charge of the Masagana Rice Industry Development Program.
He said DA has tapped various private organizations to assist the agency in extending the reach of the rice production program.
Palay harvests increased to a record high 20.06 million metric tons last year due to government interventions, primarily programs funded by the tariff collected on imported rice. The Rice Tariffication Law sets aside P10 billion through the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund, or Rice Fund, to mechanize rice farming as well as provide farmers with good seeds and training on better farming technologies.
Aside from the rice fund, Morales said other rice production initiatives include the provision of hybrid rice seeds and the contract growing program of the National Irrigation Administration helping increase palay output.
The DA rice program aims for self-sufficiency of the staple. The level of sufficiency depends on population growth and additional rice demand due to the increasing number of foreign tourists.
Morales said the rice supply situation remains manageable given sustained importation by the private sector to augment domestic production.
