Philippines eyes exporting rice by 2014

MANILA, Philippines—From being the top rice importer to rice exporter in a span of four years.

This was the ambitious goal declared by Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala, who said the Philippines is on its way to become a rice exporter by 2014.

Making the Philippines a rice seller in the world market is the second part of the Department of Agriculture’s goal under the Aquino administration once the country becomes self-sufficient in rice to fill the demand of its 90 million population, the DA chief said.

Alcala said the country is on track to meet this goal. After this has been achieved, the Philippines would like to sell rice to other countries in the region.

“After 2013, we will be self-sufficient. By 2014, we should not import anymore. We should start exporting. That’s another reason why we are working hard now,” Alcala said in an interview.

When he assumed office in 2010, President Benigno Aquino declared that ensuring enough supply of rice, the Philippines’ number one staple, and halting the corruption-laden and expensive rice importation program are his major mid-term targets.

Last month, Aquino said he was confident that the Philippines could become a rice exporter during his term.

The DA’s goal to shape the Philippines as a rice exporter is an ambitious plan considering that the country used to be the world’s top rice importer.

In 2010, the Philippines bought 2.4 million metric tons of rice from various Asian countries, pushing up the price of the staple in the world market.

The DA has drastically cut the country’s importation volume while working to hike the rice production volume. In 2011, the National Food Authority’s importation requirement was only at 860,000 MT. This was further lowered to 500,000 MT for 2012.

Meanwhile, the DA expected the national paddy yield could reach to P16.68 million MT in 2011, 5.7 percent higher than the 2010 output of 15.77 million MT. For next year, the DA eyes to increase the harvest to 18.7 million MT.

The DA chief said the Philippines is eyeing to plant and sell short-grain rice varieties commonly consumed in South Korea and Japan.

As part of that goal, Alcala said the DA is currently studying various rice seeds that Filipino farmers could plant for export.

He also noted that South Korea is coordinating with the DA on the production of short-grain rice. Although South Korea has enough rice to feed its population, Alcala said its government expects demand to boom in a few years.

“I think even Korea realizes that we will meet our sufficiency goals,” Alcala said.

Alcala also noted that the DA would be expanding and opening new rice areas. About half of the DA’s budget in 2012 was allotted for irrigation to enable farmers to use more hectarage and increase their croppings.

The DA chief said the Philippines is expected to harvest 18.7 million MT of rice in 2012. This was slightly lower than the original projection of 19.2 million MT.

Despite the adjustment, Alcala said the figure was within the high demand range.

“In our final evaluation of our food staples sufficiency program, it appeared that this is the right consumption target,” he explained.