Rice – is it enough for everyone?

By Agnes Españo-Dimzon
Panay Rural Development Center, Inc. (PRDCI)

(Last of three parts)

Mr. Abordo explained that the smell of imported rice is a result of the rice having been kept enclosed for a long period, like when it is shipped from its sources in Vietnam or Thailand to the Philippines which takes about a month.

“The rice is of good quality because the government also follows quality control standards,” he insisted. Traders like him, he said, would not buy imported rice if it smells. He said that the public still associates imported rice with the low quality kind the previous administration bought from abroad.

Another trader who asked not to be named said the NFA is up to its neck running after grains retailers who repack imported rice and sell it at a higher price – say, P20 instead of the mandated P18 per kilo -- or mix it with local rice and sell at the regular price of P25 per kilo.

Traders have two ways of accessing imported rice. They either buy from registered farmers who receive an allocation of imported rice from the NFA or they directly bid for the rice allocated for traders. The pricing of rice before harvesting started this season was P900 per bag for NFA rice and P1,200 per bag for local rice.

No wonder therefore, local farmers complain of imported rice giving them unfair competition. Rice farming in the Philippines takes a lot of capital because of the high prices of farm inputs like chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

In Vietnam and Thailand where the country's rice import comes from, both the government and the private sector provide adequate support in the capitalization, production, processing and marketing of rice.

In the Philippines at present, advocates of sustainable agriculture are stepping up their drive for local farmers to adopt natural farming methods in order to lower production costs and ensure safe and healthy food for their families. Natural farming involves the use of organic fertilizer and biological plant protection (BPP) agents instead of harmful chemicals. Farmers are also encouraged to plant different kinds of crops so they would have diverse sources of income.

In a traders' conference August 27-28 in Bacolod City, NFA national administrator Gregorio Tan, Jr. announced that the government will stop importing rice starting September to December this year.

This, he said, is for the interest of local farmers who would be selling their rice harvest during this period. Out of dire need, small farmers are forced to sell their produce even at low prices.

Prices of palay went as high as P13.50 per kilo at the peak of the lean season last August. It could drop to as low as P6.50 during the harvest season. The NFA buys high quality palay (at 14 % moisture content) from registered farmers at P10 per kilo. But officials complain that the agency is losing because budget support from the government most often comes late, if it is not inadequate.

“What we do is borrow from financial institutions like Land Bank so we would have the money for our rice procurement and subsidy programs at the time farmers and consumers need them most,” an NFA official said.