RICE importation has long been the government’s ready answer to shortages but although this will alleviate the dire situation in a matter of weeks, buying rice abroad is not the best course of action in the long run.
We must focus on the modernization of agriculture, including new rice technology, free and extensive irrigation, mechanization, drying and other post-harvest facilities, towards attaining the goal of self-sufficiency in food.
The government should thus increase the budget of the Department of Agriculture (DA) and its attached agencies handling coconut, sugar, fish, and livestock. Unfortunately, for the 2019 General Appropriations Act, the budget for the DA is only R49.8 billion, lower than the R55.6 billion for this year 2018. Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said the department will have to make do with what is available.
Coming at a most opportune time is a report that China will infuse fresh funding of 27.52 million renminbi (R226.93 million) for a joint Philippine-Chinese program started about two decades ago to boost technical cooperation in rice production.
The new grant, in an agreement signed by Secretary of Finance Carlos Dominguez III and China Commerce Minister Zhong Shan in Hainan recently, will modernize the Philippines’ hybrid rice center and thus boost the country’s palay production. It covers the third phase of a technical cooperation project of the Philippine-Sino Center for Agricultural Technology (PhilSCAT). This research and demonstration center will be upgraded into a modern hybrid rice breeding station and technology demonstration center.
The 10-hectare Phil SCAT was established in 2000 with an initial $5-million donation from China and counterpart funding from the Philippine government. It is located in the Central Luzon State University in the Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija.
This third phase of the PhiSCAT program is part of an agreement on economic and technical cooperation with China with a 500-million-renminbi (R4.13-billion) grant for at least four Philippine projects.
The DA should now make the most of the transfer of hybrid rice technology and other benefits that our giant neighbor offers in pursuance of China President Xi Jinping’s vision of a “shared future for mankind.” With this assistance and the expertise and efforts of our own scientists and farmers, we should be able to take great strides towards our goal of food self-sufficiency.