PH’s rice supply
IT’S certainly heartening to know that the Philippines, an agricultural Southeast Asian country, has a sufficient supply of rice amid the surge in the prices of the Filipinos’ staple food.
In a rice-eating country, like impoverished Philippines where the people, particularly farmers and fishermen, eat three times day, any rice shortage, without doubt, is bad news.
The Department of Agricultural (DA), which is headed by President Marcos himself, said the rice supply is enough to meet the Filipino people’s food requirements in the third quarter.
DA Senior Undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian said the carry-over stock of 1.8 million tons milled rice and import arrival of 1.8 million metric tons are enough to fill in the demand.
By the end of this month, the stock available will be good for more than two months, in addition to the incoming supply (new harvest) and import arrivals in the coming months.
Note that Undersecretary Sebastian is head of DA’s multi-pronged Masagana Rice Industry Program (MRIP).
At the same time, the articulate agriculture executive attributed the current movement in rice prices in the Philippines to the high cost of production locally and globally.
But various sectors, including industry stakeholders, see the prices of the commodity to stabilize with the expected bountiful harvest for the January-June planting season.
We believe that the government, through concerned offices and agencies, has a concrete plan of action to address the many problems confronting the rice farmers and consumers.
It is only just and proper for the authorities to avert a rice shortage in this country of rice-eating people.
