THE Department of Agriculture (DA) said on Monday that it is expecting the harvest of palay (unmilled rice) this year to exceed 20 million metric tons (MMT), with officials seeking to fund a rice productivity program for an additional P10 billion.
In a statement, Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel, Jr. said the P10 billion will fund strategies to hit a palay production target of 20.46 MMT this year.
If the target is achieved, it would represent a 6% increase from the 19.3 MMT estimate for 2024 production, and a 1.9% rise from the record 20.06 MMT posted in 2023.
“We’re now hopeful we can do better than 2023,” Mr. Laurel added.
The DA has said that the decline in production in 2024 was due to the dry spell accompanying El Niño, plus further crop damage caused by flooding during the La Niña episode late last year.
Farm damage caused by El Niño stood at P15.3 billion, according to the DA’s final estimate. Damage to rice amounted to P5.93 billion or 38.8% of the total. Lost volume was estimated at 330,717 MT, across 109,481 hectares of farmland.
The DA estimated that agricultural damage due to typhoons Kristine and Leon, which traversed the Philippines in the fourth quarter, at P9.81 billion.
The DA said record rice imports this year driven by weak palay production and the lowering of tariffs on imported rice.
“Production is directly correlated to the volume of imports. Last year, our productivity dropped to 19.3 MMT, (so) our imports shot up to 4.78 MMT,” DA spokesperson Arnel V. de Mesa said.
Tariffs on imported rice were slashed to 15% from the previous 35% until 2028 by Executive Order No. 62.
The DA has tasked the National Food Authority (NFA) to continue its “aggressive” rice procurement program to build up grain reserves.
The goal is for the NFA “to fully stock its warehouses for the first time in years, which is a key development for the country’s rice security,” the DA added.
Mr. Laurel added that the NFA is seeking to procure a minimum of 300,000 MT this year.
NFA procurement for 2024 amounted to 300,000 MT or about 6 million 50-kilogram bags of palay.
“This strategic procurement helped stabilize rice supply despite challenges in local production,” the DA said.
Republic Act No. 12708 or the Agricultural Tariffication Act raised that rice buffer stock requirement of the NFA to 15 days of national consumption from the previous nine days. — Adrian H. Halili