RP may miss 2011 rice production goal, says agri official

The Agriculture Department on Thursday said it might miss its target of 17.9 million metric tons (MT) in rice output next year as various interventions designed to increase production may produce results only in 2012. “It will be difficult to bridge the production gap — coming from a low [rice production level] of 16.2 million MT in 2010 to 17.9 million MT in 2011. We will revise targets under the rice self-sufficiency program," said Agriculture Assistant Secretary Dennis Araullo, head of the department’s national rice and corn program. Araullo pointed out that the national government is proposing to give as much as P4.3 billion to the palay program, which is less than a third of the required funding of P15 billion to reach sufficiency status. Meanwhile, the Agriculture Department announced last week that it scrapped the P1.3 billion subsidy for hybrid rice and certified seeds for 2010. Instead, the amount was re-channeled to other interventions such as rehabilitation of irrigation systems, said Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala. Palay output in the first semester of 2010 dropped to 6.62 million MT from 7.37 million MT in the same period of 2009. Crop damages during the first semester and the unrealized plantings in the second and third quarters of 2010, due to the El Niño phenomenon, will affect the palay production for the year, the Agriculture Department said. Based on government estimates, palay production this year may decline to 16.24 million MT from 16.27 million MT in 2009. However, the Agriculture Department maintained that it will avoid rice importation until 2013. Farm output for the year is projected to be flat coming from the doldrums in 2009, the department said. It said the first-semester farm output fell due to effects of the prolonged dry spell — not only to crops, but also to the performance of the fisheries and livestock sub-sectors. Farm output for the third quarter will remain negative due to the tail-end effects of El-Niño weather phenomenon, although various intervention measures are now being implemented at the grassroots level to help the agriculture recover from damage. —JE/VS, GMANews.TV