PHL likely to place global rice tenders by December

The Philippines may start tenders for rice in the global market by next month to secure stocks for the July-September lean months of 2012, Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said Thursday. But the National Food Authority council is still to decide on private sector participation — if private traders will be allowed to import rice, the Agriculture chief told reporters at the sidelines of the Senate hearing on the 2012 Agriculture Department budget. "The meeting with the NFA council is by the end of the month. We will have to collectively agree with the volume and the manner of procurement. But once the volume is decided, we can immediately go to the market," Alcala told reporters. Government plans to import 500,000 to 800,000 metric tons (MT) rice for 2012, with the assurance that volume will not exceed 1 million MT Importation in 2010 amounted to 860,000 MT while rice importation in 2009 reached an all-time high of 2.4 million MT. Devastation caused by recent typhoons has prompted the Agriculture Department to scale down the output estimate to 16.68 million MT this year from 17.4 million MT. Ability to improve output Paddy rice production in the July-December season may drop by 0.6 percent year-on-year, with second semester unmilled rice output estimated at 9.1 million MT, according to the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics. The October-December harvest may reach 5.93 million MT, down 8.8 percent 6.5 million MT a year earlier, according to government estimates based on standing crops. For the January-March 2011 harvest, government expects paddy rice output reach 4.093 million MT, up 1.4 percent, based on farmers' planting intentions. Meanwhile, the Senate has approved the P61.7-billion proposed budget allocation of the Agriculture Department for 2012. Senator Francis Pangilinan, chair of the Senate committee on agriculture and food, said he supports the department’s budget proposal, noting the 60 percent increase greatly enhances Agriculture’s ability to improve production and attain food security. "It will immensely improve the way of life of our ageing farmers and may even entice the younger generation to engage in agricultural production," he said. — VS, GMA News