The Scourge of Rice Importation

Peasant groups in Negros are in uproar over the increasing level of rice importation in the island. Research shows that the imported rice is being used by big traders to depress the price of local rice, making importation a scourge for Negros farmers.

BY KARL G. OMBION
Bulatlat.com/Cobra-ans

Rice farmers in Negros 

Photo by Karl G. Ombion

Various farmers groups, cooperatives and small agricultural producers in Negros recently slammed the National Food Authority (NFA) for engaging in massive rice importation despite the devastation it has incurred on local rice producers.

Rice importation in Negros has been on the uptrend since the country joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1995. That year, the Philippines imported 152,345 bags of rice, which quadrupled to 692,606 bags by 2002. In the 2^nd quarter of 2003 alone, the local government imported a total of 258,427 bags. NFA sources said this year’s importation level is expected to equal, if not surpass, last year’s level.

The first quarter importation is actually already enough to cover the annual average deficit of 232,960 bags in Negros’ rice production. The yearly consumption is 6,745,680 bags and the average rice production for past five years has been 325,636 MT or 6,512,720 bags.

Bulatlat.com and Cobra-ans sources at the NFA and Department of Agriculture who requested anonymity said the bulk of the imported rice goes to the warehouses of big, private traders and millers who hoard most of it during lean months, and flood the market during harvest time to depress the farm-gate price of locally-produced rice.

NFA officials however say there is no shortage of rice, that the imported rice is not intended for the commercial market but for the food security program of the local government.

The militant Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas-Negros (KMP-N) on the other hand insisted the NFA has been flooding local markets with cheap imported rice. Bulatlat.com’s research also revealed that the last time the NFA bought locally-produced rice was in 2001, with only 2,475 bags. Since then, the NFA has stopped buying local rice and has instead relied on imported rice for distribution to local markets and sale to private big traders and millers.

According to KMP-N, more than 50% of the total of imported rice last year, or 349,062 bags, went to warehouses of big trading-milling merchants. In 1995, it was reportedly much bigger – 75% or 112,543 bags. Each year since, the allocation to private traders has become bigger, the military group said.

The entry of massive cheap imported rice has discouraged local rice traders and millers from buying rice from local producers. This has inevitably led to further depression of the prices of local rice.

The NFA’s buying offer – P9 per kilo, or P450/cavan of clean and dried palay – is also much lower than those offered by private traders-millers.

Criticized by militant groups and media, NFA’s local manager Loreto Perez claimed that NFA has already allocated P2M for buying local palay. But instead of being jubilant, KMP and several farmers organizations and cooperatives dismissed the claim as cheap propaganda. They said it would most likely still be or discriminatory since only those with accredited passbook with the NFA would benefit.

KMP-N further hit the government on rice importation, charging that “the Macapagal-Arroyo regime’s policy of import liberalization of agricultural products in line with its commitment to GATT/WTO has been proven disastrous to the local agricultural sector.  Thus, in almost a decade now, the Philippines has been transformed from a net exporter of agricultural products to a net importer.” Bulatlat.com

Back to top

We want to know what you think of this article.