Govt may reduce rice imports to 100,000 MT

The Philippines may cut rice imports to about 100,000 tons in 2013, Agriculture Assistant Secretary Dante Delima told reporters Thursday.

“Under our rice program, we can further reduce our imports in 2013 to cover just the buffer stocking needs of the NFA [National Food Authority]. It can be about 100,000 MT,” Delima said.

The Philippines is planting crops earlier than usual to avoid the storm-prone months of September and October. The plan would minimize damage to production and substantially cut rice imports, Delima said.

The Philippines will import 500,000 tons this year.

The government is stepping up rice production through a five cropping cycle in 2012 until 2013.

“We are proposing to farmers a five-cropping season by advancing the planting schedule by at least two months to dodge the typhoon months. With this system we are more confident that production will be, more or less, within range of the annual production forecast,” said Delima.

Instead of the traditional July planting, the wet cropping season will be advanced to May while the dry cropping season could start by late October instead of December.

Delima said Luzon farmers agreed to adopt the proposed planting system by the next wet cropping season.

The government said as much as 250,000 hectares of rice farms may be covered by new cropping system in 2012-2013. Rice production this year is projected to reach 18.46 million tons and 21 million tons by 2013.

Delima said if the proposed cropping system worked out, the country’s rice losses could be halved this year. The Philippines in 2011 lost 2 million tons of rice due to typhoons and pests.

The government plans to import 500,000 MT of rice in 2012, with the NFA acting as “clearinghouse” for the volume. –Othel V. Campos, Manila Standard Today