THE Department of Agriculture in Davao Region (DA-Davao) assured that rice supply will be sufficient for the region while under lockdown.
Although the current rice inventory of the agriculture department showed that rice supply will last up to 318 days starting March 16, 2020, DA-Davao Region information officer Noel Provido said more rice supplies are expected to come after the end of the harvest season.
“Dili mahadlok ang atong consumer kay mag harvest pa by April ang atong mga farmers. Naa pa gani uban nga maabot og May. In other words, naa pa tay enough supply ani kay ongoing pa man ang harvest (Our consumers have nothing to worry because our farmers are still harvesting until April. Some farmers end their harvest by May. We still have enough supply because harvest is still ongoing),” he said.
He also said there is also slowdown in consumption because of the lockdowns, especially in Davao City.
“Katong mga tao from other regions, if they go to Davao City, sila nang mga nag dugang og mga consumers kay ginacater sa restaurants or bisan asa sa Davao City. Pero karon nagbaba man ang atong tourists tungod sa restrictions, nagreduce pud atong daily consumption (Those people from other places who come to the city increases the consumption of the city. But because of the restrictions, our tourist arrivals declined and so did our daily consumption),” he said.
He added that the current rice inventory is based on the volume of rice from the farmers milled by the rice processing complexes (RPC) in the region.
There are around five RPCs in the region which are the KOICA RPC in Barangay Sinaragan, Matanao, Davao del Sur, RPC I in Barangay Libasan, Nabunturan, Davao de Oro, RPC II in Barangay Marapat, Compostela, Davao de Oro, Davao Oriental RPC in Barangay San Vicente, Banaybanay, Davao Oriental, and the Davao del Norte RPC in Barangay New Visayas, Sto. Tomas, Davao del Norte.
Provido said there are also milling facilities in the National Food Authority (NFA) and private millers.
He also cited that NFA-owned rice mills have tapped private milling services.
In a text message, the NFA said, “Our frontline services which include milling, procurement and operations are non-stop. We are also tapping private milling services to mill our procured palay, aside from the NFA-owned ricemills which are already operating as of this time, to beef up supply.”
NFA-owned rice mills are located in Tagum City in Davao del Norte, Digos City in Davao del Sur, Mati City in Davao Oriental, and General Santos City in South Cotabato.
“In other words, in the days to come, bisan pa og mag lockdown ta, pag muadto na sila sa RPC, ma-process na nila, naa na tay enough stocks (As soon as the farmers go to RPCs and mill their rice harvests, then we will have enough rice supply),” Provido said.