IMPORTING RICE IS HOGWASH
The Philippine Star
06/21/10

It’s time to face squarely the issue of rice self-sufficiency. It sounds very elementary, but when we add some 2.5 million mouths to feed yearly, on top of an already famished population, the need for rice self-sufficiency cannot be overemphasized.

To think that the country is better off continuing to import rice is hogwash. To decide to become self-sufficient in rice is not even enough. We should set our minds and heart to doing it. Six years will be more than sufficient to achieve this goal.

As experts from the International Rice Research Institute and the Philippine Rice Research Institute have time and time again concurred, this is not an impossible task. We have enough land, and these farmlands are healthy enough to feed our growing nation.

Likewise, there are many existing technologies and improved rice varieties that farmers can adopt. With enough funding, our much-neglected irrigation systems can again be fully serviceable and able to deliver adequate water to nourish the country’s rice paddies.

Biggest rice importer

It is a disturbing fact that the Philippines has become the world’s biggest rice importer of late, despite data showing that the Philippines has actually done well in raising its rice yields from 1.16 tons per hectare in 1960 to an average of 3.59 tons per hectare in 2009.

So how did we end up being the world’s biggest rice buyer?

For years, investment in rice farming has been very tentative. The last time that government took to heart the goal of self-sufficiency was probably during the time of deposed President Ferdinand Marcos. With the Masagana 99 program, the country briefly enjoyed a rice surplus. But when support for the program was withdrawn, it was back to square one.

The other issues that keep hounding the local rice sector are the lack of better irrigation infrastructure, inadequate post-harvest facilities and inefficient transport and distribution systems.

Nutrient management

Farmers stand to benefit much if government puts importance to investing in nutrient management, such as strategic fertilizer applications. One respected rice scientist at the IRRI said that smarter nutrient management, along with an investment of $50 million in fertilizer could result in savings of $300 million in rice imports.

Small farmers who make up a majority of the sector can only stretch their resources so much. The government, especially in a poor country like ours, has a vital role to play, and it has to do it with such tenacity if it wants to do more than the typical rhetoric.

More important than the technical and extension services is the policy stance that the P-Noy administration will take. The bottom line is that it requires Herculean political will to eliminate this recurring rice shortage that the minions at the agriculture department like to point out each year.

Politics of rice

Sure, the dry spell that parched rice fields in the first half of this year may prompt the government and the few rice importers once again to go back to the world market. But more often, the tune that government sings is so far removed from the reality in the field.

Talk to farmers in the uplands and they wouldn’t know a thing about rice shortage. They just do not have the means to bring their produce to distribution channels.

Talk to farmers in the valley during harvest time, their harvest has been contracted by the rice millers who have the drying facility and the warehouses to store the commodity and unload it in the market when prices are favorable.

What is so ironic is that the agriculture department is encouraging farmers to increase their yields, but on the other hand, it keeps allowing the National Food Authority to import rice.

Hidden agenda

Those in the rice business know only too well the hidden agenda for rice importation. Since most of these transactions are government-to-government, details of these deals are limited to those that have privy to such negotiations.

There is of course a semblance of transparency in public auctions for private importers, but what is widely perceived is that there are ‘additional’ costs that have been factored in the final price of the commodity that is shipped in.

Each time the government cites the need to import rice, it has been so easy to state that production has failed to match the demand of a growing population. The real truth is that there is money to be made in buying the commodity from our neighbors.

Such a shame, but rice importation is lining up the pockets of those in a position to take advantage of such a policy. This policy of importing rice is a major disincentive for farmers to increase production and adopt more sophisticated technology. Why bother when your government prefers to import rice?

For this year’s supply, the NFA and private importers already bought a combined record 2.45 million tons of rice. The hefty amount forked out yearly by the government for rice imports is better spent on investing in the required infrastructure to ensure that the goal of achieving rice self-sufficiency is met.

NFA’s nefarious role

With the NFA’s highly suspect policy of buying rice at a high price and selling low, it is bleeding the government coffers to the tune of billions annually. Indeed a very vulnerable and rich source for corruption.

The incoming administration’s position on the rice self-sufficiency issue as well as rice importation bears watching. Let us all hope and believe that better days will be upon our rice farmers.

Collegiate basketball season

Within the next few weeks, the NCAA, UAAP and 27 other “mother leagues” nationwide will start the annual competitions to determine the best teams collegiate teams in the country. Visit www.CollegiateChampionsLeague.net to keep track on the performance of your alma mater’s team.

Should you wish to share any insights, write me at Link Edge, 25th Floor, 139 Corporate Center, Valero Street, SalcedoVillage, 1227 MakatiCity. Or e-mail me at reydgamboa@yahoo.com. For a compilation of previous articles, visit www.BizlinksPhilippines.net