DA insists PH will not import 3.8-M MT of rice in 2023 in response to U.S. DA on PH becoming world’s top rice importer

Transcript

00:00 The Philippines is an agriculture country that subsists primarily on rice.

00:04 But production has sunk over the last few decades,

00:07 and so the Philippine government has turned on importation to feed the people.

00:11 But the president is hell-bent on turning the status quo around

00:15 and vows to strengthen production and wean the country from regular rice importation.

00:20 PTV senior correspondent Kenneth Paciente tells us how.

00:26 The Department of Agriculture maintained that the country will not import up to 3.8 million metric tons of rice this year.

00:33 This is the government's response following the U.S. Department of Agriculture's report

00:37 that the Philippines is poised to be the world's top rice importer.

00:41 Based on the USDA report, the Philippines will import 3.8 million metric tons of rice in the marketing year 2023 to 2024,

00:49 higher than China's 3.5 million metric tons quota this year.

00:53 The DA insists the Philippines is strengthening its own production of palay and rice

00:58 to wean itself from the rice importation annually and ramp up local yield.

01:03 And right now, according to DA, the price of rice is high in the global market

01:08 and the perfect time to patronize locally produced rice and support the industry and farmers.

01:13 The Samahang Industria ng Agrikultura is also not fully convinced.

01:17 According to the group, the study is based on the Philippines' past imports.

01:21 When the country's rice importations was at an all-time high,

01:26 when the elections took place, we're in huge aids like rice were bought and distributed.

01:30 This year, there's no such thing.

01:32 There's no such thing because there's no national election, no local election.

01:40 So we should consider why the rice given to the families is increasing.

01:52 Imagine the people who are at home, they have free rice that they're giving, 3 to 5 kilos.

01:59 On his attendance at the 10th Asia Summit in Singapore,

02:02 President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said the country will not totally depend on imports

02:07 because his administration will focus more on strengthening agriculture in the country.

02:12 We cannot now continue to depend on importation, which is what has happened for the Philippines.

02:19 In the past years, it became the easy way out.

02:22 Just import more, import more rice, import more corn, import more everything.

02:27 And the pandemic showed us that this was not a wise choice.

02:34 The AgriParty list is confident to respond to excessive rice imports,

02:38 this through focusing on production and supporting farmers.

02:42 It's sad, but that's the reality because it's really not enough.

02:47 But we all, when we help, we know we can do it.

02:51 Especially our government, the priority is agriculture.

02:56 Kenneth Paciente for the nation.