DA: Rice, food supply stable despite spiking agri damage

MANILA – The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Wednesday assured a stable supply of rice and food in the country as agricultural damage looms to breach its annual average with the combined effects of natural calamities.

"In terms sa bigas na meron tayo ngayon, in terms of volume na meron tayo, there's no reason na matakot tayo (In terms of the rice that we now have, in terms of the volume, there is no reason for us to fear) because there's enough supply coming from the local production and importation," DA Assistant Secretary Arnel De Mesa said in an interview.

As of Aug. 29, the DA recorded the arrival of more than 2.8 million metric tons (MT) of rice imports since January, which includes the 296,350 MT that arrived in August.

De Mesa made the assurance as the DA reported more than P8.46 billion worth of losses in rice production, equivalent to 386,960.34 MT, due to the combined effects of the El Niño phenomenon, shearline, northeast monsoon, trough of a low-pressure area, Typhoon Aghon, Super Typhoon Carina and the southwest monsoon, and the initial agricultural damage from Tropical Storm Enteng from January to September.

The annual average loss in rice production ranges from 500,000 MT to 600,000 MT, considering the onslaught of typhoons in the Philippines.

"Sa rice yun, kung ito nasa almost 400,000 (MT), syempre wala pa yung epekto ng La Niña 'di ba? So, mabi-breach mo na iyong normal average annual losses (This is for rice only, if this is almost 400,000 MT, not to mention the looming effects of La Niña, right? So, you will breach the normal average annual losses)," De Mesa said.

Overall, the DA reported P23 billion worth of agricultural damage for 979,125 MT volume loss nationwide.

De Mesa, however, noted that the effects of El Niño and other calamities could have been worse without the mitigation efforts of the DA.

"Iyong expectation natin sa El Niño nasa (our expected losses for El Niño is about) 300,000 MT to 400,000 MT iyong mawawala. Pero iyong nawala 150,000 MT hanggang 200,000 MT (but what was reported was only about 150,000 MT to 200,000 MT)," he said.

He likewise assured interventions to mitigate the impact of the looming La Niña, which includes completion, rehabilitation, and repair of the country's irrigation canals.

The DA – Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (DRRM), meanwhile, reported P350.85 million worth of initial damage due to the effects of Enteng, which affected 13,623 farmers.

The majority of the reported damage was incurred in rice production amounting to P333.08 million, followed by corn at P14.01 million, and high-value crops at P3.76 million.

The DA-DRRM assured the distribution of P202.86 million worth of seeds, bio-control measures, and farm tools, as well as the availability of up to P25,000 loan under the Survival and Recovery (SURE) Loan Program from the Agricultural Credit Policy Council; and indemnification funds under the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. (PNA)