PH rice stock on the rise, says PSA

The nation’s stock of milled rice grew to 1.81 million tons, from the 1.49 million tons registered the previous month, even before the year’s main crop had been harvested, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). The supply of rice would be enough to cover 53 days of consumption as of Oct. 1. The latest data from the PSA showed that the National Food Authority’s inventory remained at 450,000 tons, 97 percent of which had been imported. NFA’s stock was good for 13 days of consumption, two days short of the agency’s mandate of keeping at least 15-days’ supply. Stocks of households and commercial warehouses increased by 230,000 tons and 80,000 tons, respectively. Households were keeping a total of 830,000 tons, good for 25 days, while commercial warehouses held 520,000 tons, good for 15 days. Earlier this week,  Edilberto de Luna of the   Agriculture department said some 300,000 tons of milled rice go down the drain each year due to Filipinos’ wasteful habits. This amount “is enough to feed the entire country for 10 days,” de Luna said. “For every Filipino, wastage is three kilos (of milled rice) a year, or two tablespoons (of steamed rice) per meal,” said de Luna, who is concurrent head of the DA’s national rice program. “Such volume can feed 2.6 million Filipinos for a year.” Incidentally, the volume of milled rice wasted is the same amount that the National Food Authority is currently importing from Thailand. Last October, the NFA announced that it contracted the government of Thailand for the delivery of 300,000 tons at $475 per ton, or a total of $142.5 million, (about P6.4 billion).