MANILA, Philippines?Despite a dip in rice production in the first half of 2010, the country has enough rice in storage to offset a possible shortfall in the next two quarters, according to the National Food Authority (NFA).

NFA Administrator Lito Banayo said the Philippines had 2 million metric tons of rice in government warehouses, enough to ease concerns about supplies in the next few months.

?These are very recent stocks,? he said. ?I don?t think we need to import [on the third and fourth quarter],? Banayo said.

Barring any extreme weather disturbances that could damage farmlands, Banayo said he was confident there would be enough locally produced rice in the market.

The Department of Agriculture recently disclosed that 6.6-million metric tons of rice were produced in the first half of 2010, compared to the 7.3-million MT produced in the same period last year.

It said that agricultural production contracted by 2.59 percent, a disappointing result compared to 2009?s 1.49-percent growth. The crops sector, which includes rice, suffered the biggest decline.

With the losses, the DA said, it would be impossible to reach the rice production target of 17.4-million MT for this year.

Thus the country might have to import rice this year, Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said.

Banayo, who toured Luzon?s agricultural lands, said the decline in rice production was due to the drought that pushed back the planting and harvesting schedules.

As to importing rice, Banayo said, the government should wait for a few months to see if rice production picked up.

He noted that the government should decide on issuing tenders by the end of October, when the harvest starts.

?I?d like to wait for that...I am not pressured by the possible shortfall. I would still like to hold the imports,? he said.

But if the harvest in the third and fourth quarter declines, Banayo said, the imported rice ordered by the last administration could bridge the market gap.

?I don?t want us to overstock. It puts a lot of pressure on our financials. I?d like to be conservative in our estimates,? he said.

The Philippines, already the world?s top rice importer, has bought as much as 2.47-million MT of the staple to fill its requirements for 2010.

Some Aquino administration officials had assailed what they claimed was needless importation of rice by the late Arroyo administration and suggested that corruption was involved. Much of the imported rice had been found undistributed in NFA warehouses.