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By Ira Karen Apanay Reporter
The International Rice Research
Institute (IRRI) on Friday signed an agreement with the Department
of Agriculture to cooperate in making the Philippines
self-sufficient in domestic rice production.
“This medium-term plan aims to
sustain the record highs in palay (unhusked rice) harvests as a way
to boost the incomes of our farmers and make our country 98-percent
self-sufficient in our staple food by 2010,” Agriculture Secretary
Arthur Yap said.
President Gloria Arroyo witnessed
the signing of the agreement between Yap and IRRI President Robert
Zeigler at the headquarters of the international grains agency in
Laguna province, south of Manila. The agreement has a five-year
period, and subject to the renewal or pre-termination by either
party.
The President allayed fears of a
rice-supply shortage in the country as some of the world’s biggest
exporters of the staple had tightened their hold on exports and
planned to form a rice price-fixing cartel. Thailand along with
Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Burma unveiled last week plans of
establishing the Organization of Rice-Exporting Countries (OREC).
Zeigler said IRRI would “join
forces with the Department of Agriculture and the Philippine Rice
Research Institute [PhilRice] to ramp up Philippine rice
production.”
The country’s rice
self-sufficiency rate today is 90 percent. The government earlier
announced fresh investments of P43 billion over two years to attain
rice self-sufficiency by 2010 or 2011.
Yap said the collaboration with
IRRI would cover the country’s four million hectares of rice
farms.
The agreement specifically covers
the following major items: accelerated delivery of crop management
technologies; massive development and propagation of high-yielding
rice seeds; intensified research and development to enable farmers
to produce more yet trim production costs; long-term programs to
develop new and better rice varieties; and long-term programs to
train the next generation of agriculture scientists and farm
extension workers.
Yap said the rice master plan
will focus on 44 provinces with large irrigated and rainfed areas,
and another five provinces with the largest rainfed lowland areas.
Under the agreement, he added,
the Agriculture department and IRRI agreed that the transfer of
biological materials, including breeding materials, will be done in
compliance with biosafety and bio-prospecting laws.
Both parties also agreed that the
outcome of joint research activities will be released to the public,
and will be available and accessible to farmers and other end-users.
At IRRI, Mrs. Arroyo checked out
a field exhibit showcasing new technologies and palay lines
developed by the institute that are tolerant of submergence, heat,
salinity, diseases and pests; and varieties rich in micronutrients.
Zeigler briefed the President on
new technologies jointly developed by IRRI and PhilRice on
maximizing the use of fertilizers to further raise palay yields.
No shortage on rice imports
At the general assembly of the
Federation of Philippine Industries, Inc. on the same day in Makati
City, Mrs. Arroyo said the country will have enough supply of rice
because Thailand and Vietnam already concluded contracts covering
the supply of 1.2 million metric tons.
The President made the statement
after reports came out that Thailand would not join the
Philippines’ rice tender on May 5 because the Thai government did
not endorse private exporters.
The National Food Authority (NFA),
the government’s rice importing agency, will hold a fifth tender
on Monday for the supply and delivery of 675,000 metric tons of
rice.
Yap belittled Thailand’s
refusal to join the bidding, saying the NFA almost closed the
10-percent supply gap in the country’s rice supply, and that the
scheduled tender is intended to secure the country’s buffer stock
from September to December this year.
“I don’t know what the
Thais’ action means, but I think it would be better if they join
the bidding. We’re not at a critical level but we will still look
at the volume and prices during May 5’s tender,” he said.
Yap added that farmers have
started their harvests and the government estimates that the total
harvest for the lean months would reach seven million metric tons,
enough volume to add to the NFA’s stocks.
Opposition raps rice situation
Even with the assurances given on
domestic rice supply, United Opposition president and Makati City
Mayor Jejomar Binay said on Friday that the government is to blame
for the country’s vulnerability to the dictates of a rice price
cartel.
“Beggars can’t be choosers.
The country is very vulnerable right now because of the skewed
priorities of the administration. It prioritized projects like the
[national broad-band network] where it could get huge kickbacks, and
opted to import rice rather than invest in rice self-sufficiency,”
Binay added.
At the Senate, Sen. Manuel Roxas
2nd reiterated his call for the Department of Foreign Affairs to
formally propose a special Leaders’ Summit on Rice and Food
Security among members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(Asean) in the light of OREC’s formation.
Roxas, chairman of the Senate
Committee on Trade and Commerce, said Asean must move as one in
helping secure regional food security in the light of soaring oil
and rice prices.
With Angelo S. Samonte And
Jayson Cruz Luna
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