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By Berni Fondevilla
While it may be true—as you pointed out in
your July 2 editorial “A second Green Revolution”—that
post-Marcos “Philippine administrations subsequently relegated
rice production from state priorities,” such official neglect was
reversed when the Arroyo government took over six years ago.
Given the continued, higher farm spending by
President Arroyo, the Department of Agriculture (DA) has been able
to step up the implementation of its intervention measures this dry
planting season that allowed palay farmers to exceed the production
target of 7.1 million metric tons (MT) for the just-concluded summer
harvests.
This means that prior to the onslaught of
Typhoon Frank, the DA was on course in meeting its 2008 palay
production target of 17.32 MT higher than the record output of 16.24
million MT last year.
The higher production target is in step with the
five-harvest Rice Self-Sufficiency Plan of the DA that aims to make
our country at least 98 percent sufficient in the staple food in two
years’ time by further raising harvests to 18.55 million MT in
2009 and 19.77 million the following year.
This is why the DA is now working overtime on a
rehabilitation program for Western Visayas and the 10 more regions
battered by the latest typhoon in a bid to offset production losses
in the affected provinces and enable the agriculture and fisheries
sector to sustain its growth momentum for the rest of the year.
Secretary Yap even cut short last week his
official trip to the United States with President Arroyo so he could
fly over to Panay Island to check food supply and price movements
and start working with local executives plus other stakeholders on a
farm rehabilitation program to help the DA achieve its 2008 crop
production targets despite the latest natural calamity.
The DA has already asked Malacanang to fund an
initial P1.24-billion rehabilitation program to help farmers and
fisherfolk get back on their feet in Western Visayas and the 10
other regions devastated by Typhoon Frank.
Right now, the DA has been engaged in an
aggressive procurement and distribution strategy precisely in
anticipation of unexpected occurrences like the negative impact of
Typhoon Frank on agricultural production in almost all regions
nationwide.
As a result of this strategy carried out by
Secretary Yap, the National Food Authority (NFA) has enough rice in
its warehouses to engage in the selective bombardment of stocks in
certain areas wherever and whenever necessary.
For intance, the NFA doubled its distribution of
state-subsidized rice costing P18.25 a kilo and P25 a kilo to pull
down prices of the staple in certain parts of Mindanao where the
media reported unwarranted price spikes last month. The media has
since reported that prices of the grain have started to fall by P2
to P4 a kilo after Secretary Yap had directed the NFA to flood the
cities of Davao and General Santos with low- priced government
stocks.
Secretary Yap ordered the NFA last week to do
the same in the four provinces of Panay Island-Iloilo, Capiz, Aklan
and Antique-that were hit the hardest by Typhoon Frank.
Right now, industry inventories in the region
total 137,438 MT, which is equivalent to 46 days’ supply at a
daily consumption rate of 3009 MT. The NFA is in possession of
stocks totaling 34,185 MT, and is in a position to inject more rice
into Panay markers owing to the bumper summer harvests and incoming
imports from Vietnam totaling another 600,000 MT.
Berni Fondevilla is an undersecretary in the
Department of Agriculture and the chief of staff of the office of
the DA secretary.
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