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By Conrad M. Cariño, Senior
Desk Editor
In case the country will
encounter a severe shortage in rice supply, Filipinos should be
ready to eat white corn, cassava, root crops and yam as their staple
food.
This was the advice given by GMA
(Ginintuang Masaganang Ani) Rice Program Director Frisco Malabanan,
who said that in parts of the Visayas, the staple food is no longer
rice but white corn.
“We actually have enough food,
and there’s white corn, cassava, root crops and yam [to eat in
place of rice],” Malabanan told The Manila Times.
Cassava and kamote (sweet potato)
are included in the Department of Agriculture’s list of high-value
commercial crops, which are being pushed for propagation by farmers
nationwide.
Figures from the Agriculture
department showed production of cassava and kamote from 2004 to 2006
has been growing at a rate of 2.26 percent and 5.41 percent,
respectively. In 2006, cassava production was valued at P2.47
billion, and kamote at P1.07 billion.
Yam production is largely
unaccounted, but farmers plant the crop in their backyard.
The estimated area planted to
white corn is also not known, because the government focuses much of
its efforts on yellow-corn production under the GMA Corn Program.
Yellow corn is the main ingredient for livestock and poultry feeds.
But there are thousands of
farmers cultivating white corn, particularly in parts of the Visayas,
since this is their preferred staple food. Another type of yellow
corn, the sweet variety, is also becoming popular because of its
being sweet and juicy, which makes it fit for human consumption.
Since rice is the staple food of
most Filipinos, the government must make sure there are enough
stocks.
Malabanan said the Philippines
still has to import rice in the next few years, since the
country’s rice production self-sufficiency cannot reach 100
percent during the next two to three year owing to a growing
population. Rice production self-sufficiency is slightly above 90
percent and the government is aiming for 95 percent in 2009 or 2010.
In 2007, the Philippines imported
1.87 million metric tons of rice, mostly from Vietnam.
This year, rice importation may
reach 2 million metric tons, and the National Food Authority is
looking toward the US and Cambodia as supplemental sources for the
grains.
And in case there are areas in
the country where the grains will become scarce, there is white corn
and the humble kamote, cassava and even gabi to feast on.
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