The Department of Agriculture (DA) believes that the Philippines is at par with neighboring countries like Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia in terms of rice production.
Agriculture Spokesperson Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said that the country could actually produce rice close to what it needs.
De Mesa also said that despite this, the Philippines still needs to import rice from other countries every year or as necessary.
“Yung pino-produce natin, very close to ano yung demand natin. Kaya maraming pumapasok na bigas, because we need to maintain 60-90 days of buffer [stocks],” de Mesa said.
(What we produce is very close to the demand. We import rice because we need to maintain 60-90 days of buffer stocks.)
He made that statement after the US Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA) said in their recent report that the Philippines is still projected to be top rice importer in 2025.
The USDA projects rice importation of the Philippines to reach 4.2 million metric tons to meet its growing demand. This is higher than the 4.1 million metric tons import projected this year.
According to de Mesa, the USDA report is nothing new to the agency.
“Last year they projected na yung importation ng bigas will be about 3.9 million metric tons. At the end of December last year ang total na import natin was only about 3.6 million metric tons. This year -2024 ang projection nila initially was 4.1 million metric tons ‘tas ibinaba nila yan sa 3.9 million metric tons upon learning na hindi naman ganon kalaki yung damage ng El Niño,” De Mesa explained.
(Last year, they projected that rice importation would be about 3.9 million metric tons. By the end of December last year, our total imports were only about 3.6 million metric tons. This year, 2024, their initial projection was 4.1 million metric tons, but they lowered it to 3.9 million metric tons upon learning that the damage from El Niño wasn’t that significant.)
De Mesa said 90 percent of the country’s rice importation comes from Vietnam and the rest is from Thailand, Myanmar, and Cambodia.
