Philippines | January 21 2014
Rice is headline again. Rice smuggling, that is.
And that there will be increase in price of rice due to shortage.
There are some said news of impending rice shortage, and importation again. I was told that the rice shortage or conditioning our minds that there is a shortage and that the only solution is a ruse for some quarters to make money from this crisis. It is not clear whether the crisis is real or not. But according to sources, money is made several ways:
Making a killing on a crisis
1. license to import rice cost millions
2. bidding of rice from the govt agency;
3. disposal of "rotting rice" which may be not rotting, or mixed with good rice.
Plus the purchase of fertilizer, the farm inputs, subsidies to farmers.
Two typhoons threw rice sufficiency goal off course
The earlier news from the cabinet secretary in charge of rice, was that there could be self sufficiency as the Phil rice production went up to 20 million metric tons, higher than last years 18 million. There is lesser dependence on imported rice, with importation only at 200,000 metric tons vs 2.4 million tons in 2010. The good secretary of DA said this last September 16 2013 while in Isabela. Isabela is one of the few provinces with surplus rice production and second only to Nueva Ecija in rice production.
However, the typhoons, seemed to have thrown this goal of sell sufficiency has been thrown off course and Phil is likely to import two million tonnes again in 2014, WFP officials said. A Malacanang official said in a TV show tonight that the goal of rice self sufficiency is far fetched due to: being an archipelago - transport is expensive, the typhoons factor, and the limited land area (we have about only 10 million hectares total) compared to Thailands 46 milllion hectaraes lower population to feed (60 million only vs PHL 100 million mouths to feed.
However some quarters believe that the high yield varieties produced by a Filipino Chinese businessman is being exported to Thailand and Vietname which in turn exports rice to Phl (yes they buy the SL 8 rice variety from the PHL) The BAR (Bureau of Agricultural Research) noted that PHL can achieve rice self sufficiency by planting high yielding rice variety (even better than Masagana 99 variety) Current rice varieties can yield as much as 6 to 12 metric tons per hectare
PDF Role of SL 8 in food security in Bangladesh. However, most prophets are not rcognized in their own homeland. Henry who developed the said hybrid rice in conjuection with Chinese scientists for Erap saw his good intentions nearly go to waste when GMA became President, rice importation was the key strategy for DA and NFA. (Henry exports his high yield hybrid rice seeds for other countries to achieve food security)
SL 8 brain chaild of Henry Lim of Sterling Group
