Earlier today, local radio station DXND asked me in a live interview on what should be done to avert a looming world rice supply crisis as Vietnam, the Phiippimes’ main source of rice, has itself started importing rice from India.
At whatever cost, I said, the Philippines must work on achieving rice self-sufficiency, or at least achieve a production level which would not make it totally dependent on imported rice.
To do this, I made two simple recommendations based on my experience as a local government executive, former Agriculture Secretary and most of all, as a farmer:
1. Amend the Rice Tariffication Law to assure farmers that the market will not be flooded with imported rice when they harvest.
2. Using an amended Magna Carta for Small Farmers as the legal leg, government could set a Palay farm gate price of P20 per kilo to be followed by both the National Food Authority and the commercial traders.
Buying skin dry Palay at P20 per kilo would mean that the price of locally produced rice in the market would be between P38 to P40 per kilo, which is just about the same prices in the market now.
Some may view this as over-simplifying a complex global supply problem but that is what it really is, a simple problem with simple solutions.
So many ideas could be presented to address the problem but everything boils down to one question: Will the rice farmer make a decent income producing rice?
Remember in the early 2000 when the price of milled rice went through the roof and the Philippines had to import rice at over $1,000 per metric ton?
With the farm gate price of Palay hitting historic high, almost all available spaces, including the road allowance along the national highway were planted with rice.
The point is if the rice farmer knows he will make money and he will be protected by government, he would not even wait for the free seeds or fertilizer or the ridiculous “cash and food aid” being distributed by the Department of Agriculture.
The farmer will do it on his own because he knows his labor will be rewarded with a good price.
Those who are saying that we do not have the area to plant rice should join me in my journeys to the countryside in Mindanao and I will gladly show them the vast unutilized plains around the Agusan Marsh, Liguasan Marsh and Lake Lanao, just to name a few.
Even the uplands will be teeming with traditional and hybrid upland rice varieties if the buying price is high.
If these recommendations are considered, at dawn tomorrow, you will see farmers plowing the fields to plant rice because they know they will make money.
To avert an impending world rice supply crisis, however, these recommendations must be implemented right away.
#GovernanceIsCommonSense!
#KungGustoMaramingParaan!
(Photo of farmers planting rice was downloaded from a public website.)
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