Wednesday, March 26, 2008 Ledesma: Rice By Jun Ledesma Sunbursts
RICE is a staple we Pinoys cannot do without. Sure, most of us have learned to savor loaf bread and pandesal for breakfast but nothing compares to steamed rice. Newly harvested rice un-husked in wooden mortar and pestle ("lusong" to the Visayans) when cooked gives forth an aroma that adds to its unique delectable taste. Before the rat infestation in the 1950's, we had exotic varieties that are unique only in the Philippines, "magsanaya", "milagrosa" and "hinomay" among them.
In those days, a dash of salt or bagoong is enough for a hearty meal provided you have any of the aromatic rice in your table. Rats changed all that as the rodents devour these exotic varieties at a stage when rice plants are gestating. The devastation of rice crops in those days was beyond description.
The undivided Cotabato province, which was veritably the rice granary of the country, had vast rice plantations. When hordes of rats came the province went into deep depression as production losses reached as high as 90 percent. Farmers started eating corn grits and sweet potatoes mixed with green saba bananas. The crisis gave birth to International Rice Research Institute (Irri), which came out with new hybrids with stalks that are hard and not as succulent as the exotic varieties. This did not appeal to the rodents. The Irri varieties and extensive rat campaigns were mitigating factors. Even as the early Irri hybrids were a far cry from the traditional varieties these were definitely better than corn grits, potatoes and saba.
Let's fast forward to what's obtaining today. The Manila-based media fell prey to doomsday politicians who had been wailing that there is rice crisis in the country and that the traditional rice exporting countries are no longer selling rice to the Philippines. By doing so, they triggered the panic button resulting in increase of demands as some quarters started to horde rice. Naturally prices went up. And now media establishments are saying that there are plenty of supplies but the prices have skyrocketed.
Which is the natural recourse. Go to public markets and groceries in malls and you see piles of rice among them our tonner variety and the fashionably packed but very expensive imported rice from Thailand and Vietnam. Our 7-tonner, which is a lot cheaper, believe me, is definitely better tasting than the imports. The only concern is that for the last three weeks the prices of our tonner had gone up too. Blame the politicians and us media baboons for creating the panic.
Unfortunately some wise guys in the government who have no idea at all as to what is happening in the supply chain are also adding jitters by putting in their stupid unsolicited opinions.
But inadequacy of rice supplies can be addressed. Despite conversions of agricultural areas for commercial purposes, we still have vast areas suited for rice that remains uncultivated. The government however must intervene and encourage farmers to maximize production. The same area planted with rice should be able to generate 30% more than the average production if the incentives and support are there.
So what support can the government give?
A lot of factors dampen the enthusiasm of farmers to produce more than what they can deliver. Among these are:
1. During harvest season, the buying price of palay from the farmers gate plummets. The National Food Authority (NFA) perennially lacks enough money to buy palay so the farmers end up selling to the Chinese traders at a much lower price. Talks are loose that during this period, the Chinese traders would even sell their procured rice to the NFA for a quick margin of profit. The government must set aside sufficient fund to purchase all that the farmers can produce at prices motivating enough to make a farmer with 3-hectare farm become a millionaire in three years time. Then guillotine the conniving NFA and traders if they are caught cheating.
2. Harvest season can still be rainy season. Farmers can only handle as much he can dry given his limited facilities. The greater the moisture content the lesser the price the buyer (NFA included) of his palay is willing to pay. The solution is for the government to provide additional funds for NFA solely for the establishment of more silos to be able to accommodate volumes of rice harvest during peak season. Silos are oftentimes cylindrical in structures where palay are dried and stored for long period of time. With this facilities, NFA can stockpile as much as what the farmers can produce. It can unload palay for milling when the demand is high. They can work out a quedan system too.
3. If government can provide incentives to investors in other industries, why cannot it lift tariff on imported fertilizer, pesticides and farm equipment used by ordinary farmers? To give meaning and significance to Carp and cooperative movement, agencies like the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) and Bureau of Cooperatives should help farmers - Carp beneficiaries and non-Carp farmers - organize coops, which shall be the clearing house and through which incentives should be coursed through.
Instead of attacking the issue of land conversion or shifting of rice land to other cash crops, we should better look at how to make rice farming profitable. We cannot consign our farmers to their marginal lifestyle when all of us panic when rice becomes scarce in our table. I should know the plight of the farmers because I am a farmer's son and I know the miseries that farmers suffer because I grew up in that environment.
