Sunday, April 27, 2008 Hybrid rice 'not long-term solution'
THE Philippine Legislators’ Committee on Population and Development Foundation Inc. (PLCPD) is renewing calls for the government to pay greater attention to the country’s rapidly growing population in the light of the rice crisis.
Ramon San Pascual, PLCPD executive director, said rice importation and the planting of hybrid rice are just temporary solutions to the rice crisis.
San Pascual said that as the market grows, so does the demand, and problems will be inevitable if the demand continues to soar amidst dwindling supplies.
“We call our leaders, especially lawmakers, to prioritize measures that aim for more sustainable solutions to the rice crisis like managing our population, increasing rice production and protecting agricultural lands from illegal conversions,” San Pascual said.
He said the Philippines has an estimated population of 90 million consuming an average of 33,000 tons of rice a day.
“We will always be confronted with the problem of how to feed our growing population if we do not immediately address our ballooning population and inadequate rice supply,” San Pascual said.
Socio-economic
On the other hand, Population Commission (PopCom) 7 Director Leo R. Rama said the country’s leaders must acknowledge the important role that population plays in socio-economic development. This is especially now that the country is confronted by a growing demand for rice.
“Population is a major and common denominator in development,” Rama said.
Rama said they are now improving their promotion to the natural method of family planning especially that President Arroyo has already allocated funds for the campaign.
6.39 million
Rama said that as far as they are concerned, the problem is how to feed the 6.39 million people in Central Visayas including Cebu, Bohol, Siquijor and Oriental Negros.
Rama admitted that based on their survey, 50 percent of the Filipinos are living below the poverty line. This includes most of the country’s teachers and soldiers.
He said that because there are now 88.8 million Filipinos as shown in an August 2007 survey of the National Statistics Office (NSO), this will mean there are 44.4 million Filipinos who are the poorest among the poor.
In a forum, National Food Authority (NFA) Information Officer Edgar Diez said there are enough rice stocks, although there’s a big gap between the prices of NFA and commercial rice.
Diez said that because the government subsidized the NFA rice from P6 to P7 per kilo, he urged the rich and well-off families to buy the commercial rice. (EOB)
