The
Philippines, which achieved 97-percent rice
self-sufficiency last year, is now the Asia`s fastest rice producer after
registering a 4.04 -percent average change improvement in milled rice
production from 2010-2013.
Data from the World Market
and Trade of the US Department of Agriculture showed that from 9.77 million
metric tons of milled rice recorded in 2011, production increased to 10.99
million metric tons last year.
With the produce, the
Philippines surpassed major rice exporters including China and India,
which showed an improvement of 1.55 and 3.77 percent, respectively. Thailand, a
leading rice exporter, only posted a 0.39-percent change difference in milled
rice production.
Tom Slayton, former editor of
The Rice Trader and co-author of an article on how rice price crisis could be
prevented from becoming a hunger crisis, noted that Philippines, considered a
key importer in the world rice trade, posted zero imports that was maintained
at 1.50 million metric tons during the last two years.
Bangladesh occurred a
0.25-change difference in imports from 2012 to 2013, while China, although one
of the largest rice producers in the world, registered 0.10 difference.
Relating the world rice
production data to regional rice industry integration in Asia, researchers Tin
Htut Oo, Tim Maung Shwe, and Larry Wong said the “increasing private sector
efforts in integrating increasingly ASEAN-wide modern farming and modern
economic activities along agri-food supply chains and international trading
networks could and should be harnessed and leveraged to complement and
supplement on-going government efforts [towards food security in Asia].”
In a related development, the
Philippine Rice Research Institute and International Rice Research Institute,
an international independent research and training organization with
headquarters in Los Baños, Laguna, recently signed a memorandum of agreement to
collaborate on conducting researches and promoting technologies.
PhilRice and IRRI will also
share information on researches conducted in the country, and provide intensive
training among collaborators.
In a forum conducted in
Muñoz, Nueva Ecija, Sec. Proceso J. Alcala of the Philippine Department of
Agriculture recently assured the farmers and the public that his department
will “work harder so that the rice that we’ll serve on our table will be
planted and harvested in the country.” (PhilRice)
Comments
Post a Comment