Rice imports seen to reach 860,000 MT

MANILA, Philippines – Rice importations for next year may be kept within a range of 500,000 metric tons to 860,000 MT.

In an interview, Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala said that the NFA Council would meet at the end of this month to decide on the volume of rice imports next year.

Personally, Alcala said he would prefer that the planned rice importations next year should not exceed the level of rice imported this year of 860,000 MT.

Depending on figures of the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS), Alcala said, the amount of rice to be imported could be kept at 500,000 MT especially if the Department of Agriculture’s “ratooning” and quick turnaround efforts are able to make up for the losses to palay production due to the effects of several typhoons.

The BAS this week released a lower palay (unhusked rice) production target for this year of 16.68 million metric tons, 720,000 MT below the previous target of 17.4 MMT.

The lower palay target for this year was blamed on the production losses incurred from the passage of several typhoons that included typhoons Falcon, Juaning, Mina and Pedring.

Alcala remains confident though that despite the lowered palay production target for this year and at least for the first quarter of 2012, the country remains on track to attaining rice self-sufficiency by 2013. –Marianne V. Go (The Philippine Star)