ROSALES—The chairman of the Samahan ng Industriyang Agrikultura (SINAG) urges the National Food Authority (NFA) to prioritize purchase of locally-produced rice over importation as a policy.

Engr. Rosendo So said SINAG supports President Duterte’s decision to stop rice importation and asked that NFA must not rely on importation for its rice buffer stocks.

“We have to sustain the policy of buying our local produce to help our local farmers,” So said.

He said the NFA has only procured almost 300,000 bags which is less than two percent only of their procurement.

So pointed out Thailand but Vietnam has announced that Philippines intends to buy 3 million metric tons (MT) for two years, equivalent to 60 million bags.

Thailand’s average rice export to the Philippines stands at 400,000 MT annually. It has already exported close to 200,000 MT for the past two months, an increase of almost 90 percent compared to imports last year.

So said the government must plan how it can strengthen local farmers’ production rather than subsidizing foreign farmers.

Citing of Agriculture Secretary Manny Pinol’s claim that the first quarter had a bumper harvest compared to the same period last year, So surmises that April-May production can even be bigger.

“We must carefully study how much balance of the year is still needed,” So said.

He added that the country’s palay harvest is almost 18 million metric tons that translates to almost 12 million metric tons but the government imports almost 800,000 to one million metric tons average of three years’ time, a figure that he said not even considered smuggled rice that enters through Zamboanga.

He added, “For now we do not see yet the need to import from other countries.”

“If the country can harvest the 100,000 metric tons due to the increase in local production, so why still import? So we must study the local production if it can reach the remaining balance so as not to import anymore,” So added. (Eva Visperas)

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