MANILA, Philippines—Agriculture Secretary Arthur C. Yap has downplayed fears of a rice shortage, saying Filipinos can expect enough supplies of rice and other commodities this year.

“There is no shortage, no food crisis. We can supply the country’s daily rice consumption of 32,000 metric tons (MT),” Yap said in an interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net).

As of Feb. 1, the country managed to keep its total rice stocks at 1.83 million tons, enough to last for 57 days.

As a matter of policy, the National Food Authority maintains, at any given time, an inventory equivalent to 15 days of national consumption. A 30-day buffer stock is required during the lean months from July to September.

Tight supply

Yap, however, acknowledged that there was “tight supply in the global market,” which has been responsible for the high prices of commodities such as rice, wheat and corn.

“The fact that the prices of rice are going up is a sign that there is just enough supply, a tight supply, but it does not mean an absence of rice stocks in the market,” he said. “If you go to supermarkets and palengke [public market] you’ll see there are enough stocks for people to buy.”

Yap said in an earlier briefing that there was a slim difference of 100,000 MT between the global supply, which is estimated at 323.3 million MT, and global demand of 323.2 million MT.

Rationing

He said he did not see the situation getting out of hand, saying “there will be no need for rationing.”

Despite this tight supply in the global market, Yap said he was confident that the Philippines would be able to get this year’s planned importation volume of 2.1 million MT.

For 2008, the Department of Agriculture targets rice production to reach a record 17.33 million tons, equivalent to a national self-sufficiency level of 92 percent.

A coalition of nongovernment group slammed Yap for failing to curb increases in rice prices and for having an “incoherent food policy.”

The Rice Watch and Action Network (R1) issued the statement following reports that Yap was willing to lower the tariff on imported rice and corn to increase the flow of these cereals into the country.

“Yap should stop boasting of increased productivity while holding our staple food hostage to volatile fluctuations in international market,” said R1 lead convenor Jessica Reyes-Cantos.

She said “local agriculture officials are turning to imports to solve the alleged shortage of rice, while (Yap’s) lieutenants fought tooth-and-nail for increased protection through quantitative restrictions for rice imports in the World Trade Organization.”

Philippine agriculture negotiators in the WTO in Geneva are now negotiating for increased protection for rice and other sensitive products under the Special Products and Special Safeguards Mechanism.

“Tariff is not used to plug shortages that are deemed temporary unless he admits that the country will rely on imports to feed its people,” Cantos said.

SL Agritech

Government needs to get its act together as Ginintuang Masaganang Ani Rice Program Director Frisco Malabanan has boasted of solving the rice shortage through hybrid rice, according to Cantos.

The R1 earlier criticized the agriculture department for subsidizing the hybrid rice seeds of a single company, SL Agritech, to encourage the farmers to use the seeds for planting with the promised potential of increase in harvest.

Cantos said Yap should investigate the abnormal increase in local rice prices as early as January when the harvest season started.

“Yap should really start to learn the ropes of running an agriculture portfolio with a coherent food policy based on food self-sufficiency. We challenge him to sit down for an honest-to-goodness discussion on the rice master plan instead of resorting to knee-jerk reactions,” Cantos said.