Isabela farmers urge govt to limit rice, corn importations

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya – Farmers in Isabela province want the Department of Agriculture to put a cap on rice and corn imports and to start buying from them. They said that aside from losing millions to typhoon “Pepeng" and storm “Ondoy," corn farmers are also reeling from huge losses in unrealized income due to an alleged unkept promise of Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap that the government will buy 300,000 metric tons of corn in the Cagayan Valley region. Isabela has expected a combined corn production of more than 700,000 MT for the moths of September and October. The current year has seen a bumper harvest of agricultural products in the province but the farmer’s elation was cut short when they found out that they cannot sell their rice and corn produce outright to millers at a good value since they (farmers) are directly competing with cheaper government import prices. Isabela farmers lost at least P250 million worth of agricultural products during the recent typhoons but they said their income have started to dip in September when the usual farm gate price of corn dropped to record low due, according to them, to a market flooded with imported rice and corn. An Isabela based consumer advocacy group composed of representatives from the church, business associations and non-government organizations claimed that Yap promised them a buying price of corn at P10 – P12.50 per kilogram but prices plunged to P 3 per kg for wet corn and P5 - P7.30 per kg for dry corn. The situation, according to Rafael Jacinto, president of Isabela Consumers Watch (ICW), has resulted in thousands of tons of corn to rot inside warehouses. On the other hand, rice farmers are now also urging Yap to review the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) strategies in importing rice from other countries as their income have already been severely affected along with their capacity to produce more rice. Recently, the government has allowed private corporations to import some 300,000 MT more of rice with the National Food Authority facilitating its sale in exchange for a service fee of P2 per kg. Isabela provincial board member Ceasar Purugganan has also blamed the government for the problems besetting the farmers. He said it is the farmers that will suffer the most as long as the DA continues its high-volume, off-shore procurement of rice, wheat and corn. As the country’s second biggest supplier of rice, Isabela contributes at least 800,000 MT of unmilled rice every cropping season to the national production of more than 17 million MT. It is also the country’s biggest producer of corn but some 87,000 families or about 348,000 individuals who rely on corn farming may go hungry if the government will not immediately initiate relief measures to mitigate hunger like alternative livelihood opportunities. - GMANews.TV