We can stop importing rice
The Philippines is the world’s largest importer of rice, according to a study conducted by the Philippine Rice Research Institute (Philrice). For its needs next year, it will import 1.6 million tons of rice, mostly from Vietnam and Thailand.
The country is capable of producing up to 6,344 kilos of rice per hectare, although Vietnam, Indonesia, and China have better production records. Vietnam produces 6,808 kilos, Indonesia 6,675 kilos, and China 6,549 kilos per hectare. But the Philippines has 43,000 square kilometers of rice fields. These could readily produce the nation’s rice needs. The problem is that the Filipino farmers’ cost of production is so much higher than that of Vietnamese and Thai farmers, so that it is cheaper for us to import rice from these countries than to produce it ourselves.
Knowing where the problem lies, our government planners should be able to concentrate on finding solutions. The Department of Agriculture last year conducted a program called “Palayabangan: The 10-5 Challenge,” referring to the goal of producing 10 tons of rice per hectare at a cost of P5 per hectare. An Isabela farmer succeeded in meeting the challenge, producing 10.55 tons per hectare, at a cost of only P4.97 per kilo.
The next step is to get the nation’s farmers to see how they can adopt the methods and techniques used in the Isabela farm. Aside from the use of high-yielding seeds, innovations in land preparation, in the use of fertilizers and pesticides, in irrigation, in harvesting, etc., played a part in the achievement of the goal.
We are a nation of 100 million rice eaters with 2 million added every year. We need to develop our rice industry and the rest of Philippine agriculture, not only for our needs but also for export. Our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) today is driven mostly by the services sector, followed by industry, with agriculture a poor third. If we can develop our rice industry to do away with imports, we would not have to worry about feeding our people everytime there is a supply shortage. We would also be boosting our GDP as agriculture makes its proper contribution to the national growth.
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