The country has a sufficient supply of rice at over 7 million metric tons (MT), an official of the Department of Agriculture (DA) reported on Wednesday.
DA Undersecretary for Rice Industry Development Leocadio Sebastian said the harvest during the dry season was “good,” with a total yield of 5.7 million metric tons.
The country’s supply of imported rice is at 1.9 million metric tons.
“Our rice supply is more than enough for our needs for the next few months,” Sebastian said at a Laging Handa briefing.
“We are at the peak of planting, we expect that this month there will be harvests, and in September there will be many harvests. We have a sufficient supply of rice,” he added.
The country also has a buffer stock good for 39 days, nearly five times the minimum 9 days required by law, Agriculture Undersecretary Mercedita Sombilla said in another press conference in Malacañang.
“The DA has already prepositioned ways by which we could increase production. The biggest rice production will still come sometime end of September or October,” she said.
But Sebastian explained that the buffer stock of rice of the National Food Authority (NFA), is different from the stocks of rice for the whole country.
He said the government used to get its rice supply from the NFA, but now the agency maintains only a small stock for emergencies.
“The private sector is now allowed to import rice,” he said.
At the same time, Sebastian urged farmers who were affected by Typhoon Egay to seek assistance from the DA, as they are ready to supply them with seedlings.
He also urged them to maximize food production during this period by growing vegetables.
Meanwhile, Senator Grace Poe renewed her call for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to appoint a full-time secretary of the Department of Agriculture.
In her privileged speech entitled “Hunger Games, “ she said a full-time secretary should focus on the country’s agricultural sector, particularly the rice supply.
She also said India’s ban on rice exports would affect both the supply and price of the commodity.
