Zamboanga, Tawi-Tawi commit to revive rice production

Following the rice crisis which prompted the declaration of a state of calamity, Zamboanga and nearbly island provinces have committed to start developing their rice production again to ensure stable supply, but an additional importation of 132,000 metric tons of rice is eyed as an immediate measure.

Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said local government units of Zamboanga, Tawi-Tawi, Basilan and Sulu have pledged to allocate thousands of hectares of land to be developed for rice production areas.

Zamboanga City has committed an initial 1,000 hectares for rice production and demonstration area, while Tawi-Tawi has offered a 10,000-hectare area in Languyan Island to serve as the province’s production area.

Sulu and Basilan, meanwhile, still have to submit their proposed rice production program and areas to be developed.

“This could be developed into a corporate rice farm by the DA, but it would take sometime before it starts producing. And even with that area, Tawi-Tawi, for one, could only produce 30,000 MT of rice or half of what it needs,” Piñol said.

“Even with the arrival of the first 10,000 bags of NFA rice and the expected additional shipment of another 20,000 bags, Tawi-Tawi officials are unsure of where to get additional rice supplies,” he said.

As an immediate measure, Piñol submitted a memorandum to President Duterte to allow a special import allocation of 132,000 MT to sustain the needs of the areas until the rehabilitation of the rice industry of the region.

“The 132,000 MT of rice will be imported by the private sector for the ZAMBASULTA region, a recommendation which is expected to be tackled by the NFA Council on Tuesday,” he said.

Piñol also proposed the establishment of a rice trading center where all supplies coming from outside of the region would be unloaded, charged with minimal tariffs and distributed only in the ZAMBASULTA area.

“My proposal is that the volume of rice allowed to enter through the rice trading center should not be more than half of the total requirements of the region so that rice farmers in the mainland would not be affected,” he said.

The DA, on the other hand, has pledged up to P100 million in rice production loan portfolio under its Production Loan and Easy Access program to finance rice farmers.

The department also plans to establish solar powered irrigation systems and the deployment of farm machinery and equipment in the islands to support the rice production program.

Meanwhile, with the arrival of NFA stocks and lower-priced commercial rice, the region has supply good up to 15 days.

The rice crisis in Zamboanga City and nearby provinces started with the closure of the rice smuggling routes from Malaysia last month.

The areas have been largely dependent on good quality smuggled rice which is being sold at a low of P34 per kilogram.

However, the meeting between President Duterte and Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad last month ended smuggling operations which also stopped the supply of rice for the area.

Rice prices eventually shot up to P60 per kg in Zamboanga City to as high as P80 in TawiTawi and Sulu.

Last week, Zamboanga City declared a state of calamity citing the high prices of rice in the area, but this was lifted a few days later with the arrival of cheap subsidized rice of the government.