LEGAZPI CITY--PRESIDENT Macapagal-Arroyo has secured a commitment from Vietnam to supply rice to the Philippines so there is no cause for concern over reports of a food crisis, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said.
Yap said his department’s main concern now was how to keep food prices down.
He said the commitment from Vietnam would help assure enough rice supply.
Early this month, Albay Gov. Joey Salceda, economic analyst and Ms Arroyo’s key adviser, said the country would face a food crisis starting this month, warning it could be “a far bigger disaster than the ongoing sociopolitical crisis.”
Salceda said the increase in prices of food crops was imminent after oil prices hit new highs this month.
Oil struck a record $109.20 per barrel on Tuesday.
Salceda said the price of corn in the world market had gone up by 88 percent, coconut oil by 96 percent, rice by up to 54 percent, soybean by 103 percent, soybean meal by 85 percent, and wheat by 148 percent.
Yap, in a press statement sent to the Inquirer, however, said he did not see the food crisis, which would mean “an absence of food or rationing and food lines.”
He said the DA was confident that the 2008 rice production target of 17.33 million metric tons, which is equivalent to a 92-percent national sufficiency level, can be met.
He added that, based on field reports, palay planting schedules were on track while rains brought by the onset of the La Niña phenomenon would benefit farmers in over a million hectares of land.
He admitted, however, that one area of concern was the spike in the prices of rice as caused by spiraling prices in the world market.
“Demand is growing but supply is not catching up that much because of climate change. We have to accept that climate is really changing,” Yap said. Ephraim Aguilar, Inquirer Southern Luzon
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