NFA beefs up rice supply after typhoon hits RP

| 05/12/2009 4:56 PM

The National Food Authority (NFA) has stocked twice as much rice as needed in the wake of typhoon "Emong," which reportedly ravaged agricultural crops in Pangasinan province and some parts of Northern Luzon.

According to NFA Administrator Jessup Navarro, the NFA's current inventory is capable of sustaining the Philippines' rice needs for 31 days, based on the country's daily requirement of 35,000 metric tons.

"Our stock inventory at present is more than double the required 15-day food security buffer," he said in a statement, adding that the intensive palay procurement during last year's main harvest and the summer crop beefed up NFA's rice inventory.

As of the first week of May, the NFA said it has some 21.9 million bags of rice. This will be sufficient for the country's needs for the next five months, based on the agency's average daily rice sales.

The NFA is targeting to buy 18.5 million bags of palay this year, higher than the 13.2 million it procured last year. "We could still surpass NFA's 2008 procurement which was the highest in 30 years," Navarro said.

Last week, Agriculture Undersecretary Jesus Emmanuel Paras said typhoon "Dante" destroyed over 1 percent of projected rice output from April to June this year. Emong, which came after Dante, was predicted to do further damage.

The country's full-year 2009 rice output is expected to rise 4.4 percent from last year's 16.82 million tons. Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap earlier said that rice imports this year may reach 2 million tons, about 10 percent more than forecast.

An average of about 20 typhoons strike the Southeast Asian region every year but officials said that number may rise due to climate change.

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