DA: Deals with Vietnam, India for cheap rice start

The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Friday said more affordable rice could be sold in the country after the administration opened talks with Vietnam and India, both major exporters of the grain.

“We are pleased to inform the public that upon the directive of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to open talks with Vietnam, some Vietnamese exporters are quoting prices that are $30 to $40 lower than before,” said Agriculture Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban. Panganiban added that the government is working with India to discuss the possibility of their selling the Philippines some rice on humanitarian grounds, despite its recent ban on all rice exports.

These talks, Panganiban said, could pave the way for the country to get better terms for the 300,000 metric tons (MT) to 500,000 MT of rice it needs to import this year.

But Rep. Wilbert T. Lee of the AGRI party-list group on Friday warned against being overly dependent on rice imports as he said the Philippines should focus on improving rice self-sufficiency.

“While we thank Vietnam for the assurance that there will be a steady supply of rice to the Philippines, the export policies of other nations are beyond our control and we cannot predict when these will change,” Lee said, citing India as an example.

The president of Vietnam’s National Assembly had earlier assured House Speaker Martin Romualdez that Vietnam—which currently supplies 90 percent of Philippine rice imports—will continue to provide the Philippines with a stable supply of rice at affordable prices.

On the other hand, the Indian government last month imposed a ban on non-basmati white rice after retail rice prices in India climbed 3 percent in a month after heavy monsoon rains caused significant damage to crops.

“As such, the best solution to shield ourselves from unpredictable export policies is for us to ensure our farmers are fully supported by our laws, programs, and policies to be able to plant and harvest rice,” Lee said.

The lawmaker argued that food security is a key component of national security, saying inadequate access to food can trigger social unrest.

Meanwhile, Sebastian, the DA Undersecretary for Rice Industry Development, said he is optimistic that rice output in 2023 may hit more than 20 million metric tons (MT), following a bumper harvest in the first semester.

“With the 3 percent production growth in the first semester, we can expect that barring the occurrence of destructive typhoons, the production for 2023 could surpass 20 million MT,” Sebastian said.

He added that the 3 percent incremental output is excellent news for farmers and for the country.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that palay output from January to June 2023 rose to 9 million MT, from 8.7 million MT in the same period in 2022, higher than the DA’s projections.

The PSA report is also higher than the PRISM (Philippine Rice Information System) estimate of 8.7 million MT that DA earlier used in its rice supply outlook.

The 9 million MT palay is equivalent to 5.9 million MT milled rice, about 200,000 MT more than PRISM estimate of 5.7 million MT, Sebastian said. Sebastian noted that the 9 million MT palay production for the first half of 2023 is also higher than the production levels for the first-half output of 2022 and 2021.

The country’s rice production will continue to grow considering the good palay price in the previous cropping and provision of various interventions by DA, he said, noting that the recent production reports should negate speculation of a rice shortage.

As reported by the private sector to President Marcos on Tuesday, more imported rice is arriving this month and in September.

In a special meeting, the private sector rice stakeholders also informed the President that 300,000 metric tons of rice are coming in August. About 2.05 million MT of imported rice already arrived from January to the first week of August 2023.

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