DA exec assures sufficient rice supply despite storm damage

MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Agriculture on Monday assured a sufficient supply of rice and other agriculture products despite initial reports of massive damage to crops in the floods wrought by typhoons “Pedring” and “Quiel” in Northern and Central Luzon.

“Our food requirements for this year are fully secure even with the typhoons and floods. We have an assurance from the NFA (National Food Authority) until the next (palay) harvest that we are fully secured,” DA Undersecretary for operations Joel Rodinas said at the Kapihan sa Diamond Hotel.

“We have secured the full requirement of the Philippines covering an eventuality… Our (rice) stock right now in the NFA is 200,000 metric tons,” Rodinas said, adding that apart from the 200,000 metric tons, there are holdover stocks from the last harvest season.

Rodinas pointed out that for the 90-day lean period from July 1 to September 30, the NFA has amassed an 80-day buffer stock of rice which is more than the usual 30-day buffer stock.

“We have a comfortable buffer… The withdrawals from the stock (during the lean months) was at a minimum because of the sufficient supply in the market and in the households.”

The supply of vegetables, on the other hand, has not been affected by the typhoons with other sources from Southern Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao delivering to the markets.

Although some suppliers sold vegetables at slightly higher prices because of the delivery cost, the prices are anticipated to stabilize within the week.

Rodinas said the delivery of agricultural products from the usual sources from Northern and Central Luzon is expected to normalize with the restoration of most of the major roads and highways damaged by the typhoons.

He revealed that the national food security council is set to meet in two weeks to review the rice importation strategy for the current year using a more solid assessment of the extent of damage wrought by the typhoons to crops as a basis.

Initial reports of damage to crops, he stressed, has to be verified because they may simply be “knee-jerk reactions” from the field assessors, who made the conclusion based on the visual observation of flooded fields.

He explained that some of the crops could have been submerged in flood waters but are still recoverable while some of farmers were able to harvest their crops before the typhoons struck.

“Based on the NFA report, we will have sufficient supply of rice until the end of this year. Whatever we will be planning to import, will be just to cover the damages most probably,” Rodinas stressed.

He advised vendors not to take advantage of consumers during the typhoon season by hiking the prices of vegetables. With the steady supply, there is no reason to do so, he said.

Rodinas also assured the public that there is no need to panic in terms of food security even with several other typhoons anticipated to hit the country in the next few months.