Don’t give up on rice, official urges farmers
As farmers stand to lose from rice liberalisation, government says plant more rice
Manila: Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol has appealed to farmers not to give up planting rice amid an expected decline in their earnings as the country implements the new law regarding tariffs on the staple cereal.
“Let us not abandon rice farming for the future of your children. The Department of Agriculture is here to protect farmers,” Piñol pleaded to the farmers.
Early this month, President Rodrigo Duterte signed the Rice Trade Liberalization Law which is the government’s response in fluctuations in the prices of rice. Under the new edict, importers can freely import rice with permission from the government.
Previously, importers can only bring rice into the country if government deems that importation is necessary to prevent rice shortage.
But liberalised importation has its bad effects. The looser the restrictions in bringing more rice into the country from abroad, the more it means local farmers, who are already reeling from low prices, would have a more difficult time getting fairer prices for the produce.
Piñol said the government’s hands are tied with regards to the rice importation.
He said the implementation of the rice trade liberalisation law, is in fact, already decades overdue. “The lifting of the Quantitative Restriction on the volume of imported rice is a commitment made by the Philippines when it signed up with the World Trade Organisation over two decades ago,” Piñol said.
The Philippines is a predominantly agricultural country. Ironically however, the country has to import much of its rice requirements.
Piñol explained that the Filipino farmers need to plant higher-priced varieties of rice if they are to remain competitive.
“If the Philippines relies on rice importation, its supply will be at the mercy of other countries that could impose high prices potentially resulting to another rice crisis in a few years,” he added.
Piñol is positive that Filipino farmers would survive if they could increase the volume of exports of rice varieties that are better priced abroad, thus, the Philippines needs to export rice to keep its farmers from going bankrupt and abandon farming altogether.
He said Filipino farmers need to plant organic, heirloom, and upland fancy varieties that would command a higher price in the foreign markets.
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia believes that rice tariffication will directly benefit both farmers and the poor through lower rice prices and increased government assistance to the agricultural sector.
Pernia, who heads the National Economic and Development Authority said that the newly-signed Rice Tariffication Law provides for the establishment of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF), which will funnel P10 billion (Dh705 million) annually to the rice sector for the next six years.
The RCEF is allocated for the procurement of farm machinery and equipment, rice development, propagation and promotion, as well as expanded rice credit and extension services.