Rice

The Philippines’ self-sufficiency ratio (SSR) in rice went up to 85.83 percent while the SSR for corn dropped to 95.88 percent in 2009, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said in a recent report. In its “Food Sufficiency and Security” report, the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS), an attached agency of the Agriculture department, said that…

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang may have set the stage for the abolition of the National Food Authority (NFA) with its decision to take away the agency’s P8-billion rice procurement subsidy and transfer it to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

MANILA, Philippines – When Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima speaks of the National Food Authority (NFA) and its debts, his listeners can’t help but notice the urgency in his voice.

Instead of abolishing the National Food Authority (NFA), a newly formed think tank proposed measures to transform the agency into an economically viable state firm even while fulfilling its primary mandate to help pursue food security and stabilize the price and supply of rice, especially for the benefit of poor Filipino consumers.

MANILA, Philippines—The National Food Authority must be transformed into an economically viable entity that will fulfil its mandate of pursuing food security and stabilize prices of rice for the benefit of underprivileged Filipino consumers.

RICE consumption was highest in the poorest  region of the Philippines, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). Annual per capita consumption was 144.66 kg. This is according to a study by the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS). “Soccsksargen ranked next with 136.5 kg. On the other hand, the least consumption was observed in Central…

The Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) together with the Science City of Muñoz in Nueva Ecija had committed to intensify rice conservation over the weekend. The commitment was made as a survey conducted by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute of the Department of Science and Technology shows that each Filipino wastes three tablespoons of…

THE Manila Times has long advocated the abolition of the National Food Authority (NFA). We just could not see how the dual mandate of the agency—to be tasked with aiding farmers to be paid well for the palay (unhusked rice) they produce while at the same time be required to make sure the market price…

FOOD Security in staple cereals in times and places of natural or man-made calamity/emergency.

THE former head of the Arroyo Administration’s Presidential Management staff, Secretary Elena Bautista-Horn, has defended the regime she served from Aquino administration claims that the National Food Authority (NFA) allowed rice to rot in its warehouses. She said most of the rotting rice was received as donations from the United Nations World Food Programme.

Long berated in our editorials for profligate and questionable spending, the National Food Authority (NFA) suddenly grabbed the headlines when President Benigno Aquino 3rd, in his first State of the Nation Address last week, condemned the previous administration’s practice of importing rice in excessive amounts, resulting in a glut of the staple.

MANILA, Philippines – Experts blame the government’s excessive importation for the volume of rice flooding the warehouse of the National Food Authority (NFA) and problems facing the country’s rice farmers.

THE PHILIPPINES, which has been the world’s biggest rice importer in recent years, is now overstocked with the grain and will likely cut overseas orders dramatically, the government said yesterday.

Nueva Ecija—The chief of the country’s lead agency in rice research and development based here is optimistic that the country will soon become self-sufficient in rice despite a backslide in agricultural production brought by the recent onslaught of El Niño.

THE COUNTRY’S rice inventory at the start of June this year was up by 25% from the same month last year, data from the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) show.

MANILA, Philippines – Farmers using hybrid rice seeds posted far higher yields than those who planted inbred certified seeds during the summer crop, according to Dr. Frisco Malabanan, head of the Department of Agriculture’s Ginintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA) Rice Program.

Hybrid rice is the answer to the country’s perennial cereal supply problem, according to Henry Lim, chairman and chief executive officer of SL Agritech Corp., who added he is of the strong belief that the Philippines would achieve rice self-sufficiency in three years “if the government would aggressively push its hybrid rice propagation program.”

MANILA, Philippines – Due to a tightness in the supply of palay as a result of drought damage, the National Food Authority (NFA) has raised slightly its support price for palay to P17.70 per kilogram inclusive of drying, transport and cooperative development incentives.

MANILA, Philippines – A severe El Nino weather pattern this year could cut the Philippine paddy rice harvest by more than 800,000 tons, a senior official said on Tuesday, which could mean more rice imports.

MANILA, Philippines – For the world’s biggest rice importer, will 2010 be another 2008, a year plagued with skyrocketing rice prices amid squeezed supply?

MANILA, Philippines—An increase in the price of rice has forced the government to cut back on its planned purchase of the grain, deciding instead to buy 509,950 metric tons of the grain, mostly from Vietnam.

RP races to secure rice supply for 2010 MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines could import as much as three million tons of rice next year as the world’s largest buyer of the grain, worried about a potential spike in prices, moves quickly to secure supplies.

LEVERKUSEN, Germany – The Philippines needs to brace for another possible rice supply shortage in the first half of 2010, triggered by a host of factors including the two typhoons that recently hit the country, an agriculture expert said Wednesday here on the sidelines of a press conference on the environment.

Agri exec pushes for global stockpile LAPU LAPU CITY, CEBU, Philippines — There is a “perfect storm” brewing and it will severely affect rice trade, possibly triggering a replay of the 2008 rice price crisis when rates soared to record levels, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said during the World Rice Conference in Cebu province.

THE government has placed an order of 200,000 metric tons of rice from Thailand on condition that Bangkok would agree to the Philippine position for a slower tariff reduction on the commodity, Manila said yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines—Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are laying the groundwork for a permanent emergency rice reserve mechanism in anticipation of more calamities hitting the region, Malacañang said Sunday.

Hua Hin—Thailand has accepted the country’s proposal for a slower tariff reduction on rice, but in return asked Manila to import more rice from Bangkok, Trade Secretary Peter Favila said.

With Typhoon Pepeng and tropical storm Ondoy inundating much of Central Luzon in floodwaters—and the current threat of Typhoon Ramil (international codename Lupit)—the prospect of another rice crisis looms if the government fails to take proactive steps. The damage caused by Pepeng in Central Luzon can be likened to the “Great Flood of 1972” when…

MANILA, Philippines – The National Food Authority (NFA) does not plan to import any more rice for this year, according to NFA administrator Jessup Navarro.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines wants the tariff rate of 35 percent on rice maintained until 2015 under the  ASEAN Free Trade Arrangement (AFTA) which would likely go into full implementation next year.