MANILA, Philippines--The Department of Agriculture is developing alternative planting sites in Central and Southern Luzon to ensure the steady supply of vegetables amid the onset of the rainy season.

According to the DA, about 60 percent of the vegetable supply of Metro Manila comes from Northern Luzon, which is among the regions frequently hit by typhoons.

For this year, the DA said the Philippines might be hit by at least 20 tropical storms, as predicted by the local weather bureau.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur C. Yap said the DA had started developing areas in Regions 4A and 4B (Southern Luzon) as well as Central Luzon as possible alternative sites for production of off-season vegetables to guarantee the steady supply of the produce in Metro Manila.

Yap said that while the typhoons might cause temporary delivery disruptions from the provinces to Metro Manila, these should not be a cause for artificial increases in prices.

"Price movements are to be expected when tropical storms hit these regions. But vegetable supply remains stable at present so there is no reason for prices to go up too high in retail markets," he said.

"Although there may be disruptions in delivery of one to two days due to the clearing of roads after the typhoon, this should not be used by retailers as an opportunity to jack up their prices. That’s already profiteering on their part," Yap added.

Also, the DA has assured the public of sufficient rice stocks even as the country heads for the July-September period--the traditional lean months for rice as well as the onset of the rainy season.

The DA earlier reported that summer harvests were likely to reach more than 7 million metric tons, higher than the 6.7 million MT recorded in the same period last year.

To further ensure a comfortable 30-day buffer stock for rice for the second half of the year, Yap said the country would continue aggressively securing rice stocks through alternative modes of procurement.

This is needed, Yap had said, to prepare for the rainy season, which is expected to usher in destructive typhoons that frequently ravage rice paddies and diminish local supplies.

"We must still have an eye for the worst possible case that can happen," he added.

As of end April, the Philippines, the world’s biggest rice importer, had already contracted 1.713 million MT of rice from Vietnam, Thailand, Pakistan and the United States, out of the 2.1 million MT it had sought to buy.

The contracted volume is reportedly enough to fill in the "critical" rice volume shortfall of 1.6 million-1.7 million MT.