MANILA - The government assured the public that there is no looming food shortage this year due to the 2 consecutive typhoons that have battered major agricultural areas in Luzon.

In a briefing on Monday, Deputy Palace spokesperson Anthony Golez said typhoons 'Ondoy' and 'Pepeng' (international code names, Ketsana and Parma, respectively) will not affect food supply for the rest of 2009.

He said there is enough buffer stocks of more than 1 month.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap stressed that government rice stocks, held through the state's National Food Authority, now stand at 1.25 million tons, good for 35 days of consumption.

Harvest time

The typhoons came at a time that the crops, especially rice, are primed for harvest. Rice, which is a major crop in the affected regions of Central and Northern Luzon, are typically harvested from late September to December.

According to the Department of Agriculture update as of October 4, 'Ondoy' damaged crops worth about P5.5 billion, while 'Pepeng' damaged P453 million.

Yap stressed, however, that these figures are based on preliminary reports since there are still affected regions that have yet to submit their damage estimates.

"The president has ordered immediately to extend assistance to the farmers displaced by the typhoons and to ensure efficient supply in the coming month," Golez said.

More imports in 2010?

The last harvest season this year was supposed to meet demands for the first half of 2010.

Cagayan Valley already accounts for 12% of national rice production, while Central Luzon accounts for 18%.

Yap said the Philippines, the world's largest rice buyer, will import for its 2010 needs in due time, wary that more purchases by could push prices higher.

Manila is looking to import more of the grain to avoid a potential supply shortage in the first half of 2010, after typhoons hit many rice-producing areas.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Sunday said any importation of food items must be done at the earliest.

Yap declined to say how much rice would be imported. "I will not tell you the volume and when because prices tend to go up. We cannot announce when we're going to buy because it will affect prices and if it affects prices, the government has to spend more," he said after a congressional budget hearing.

So far, the Philippines has imported 1.775 million tons of milled rice in 2009, versus a record 2.3 million tons last year which helped drive grain prices to all-time highs.

Before the storms hit the country, an industry official in Vietnam said in August that Hanoi may have struck a new pact to sell 400,000 tons of rice to Manila.

Yap said the hefty crop destruction meant farm sector output was likely to grow only by 1.7% for the full year, against the government's previous target of 3-3.5%.

The government is still waiting for floods to recede in some areas to be able to assess the extent of damage to farmland.

Growth of agriculture output, which comprises around a fifth of the domestic economy, slowed to 1.53% in the first of 2009 from a 4.72% expansion a year earlier. - abs-cbnnews.com with Reuters