{"id":237289,"date":"2019-11-12T21:07:19","date_gmt":"2019-11-13T02:07:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=237289"},"modified":"2019-11-12T21:09:41","modified_gmt":"2019-11-13T02:09:41","slug":"better-irrigation-system-can-ease-ph-rice-problem-malacanang","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/11\/12\/better-irrigation-system-can-ease-ph-rice-problem-malacanang\/","title":{"rendered":"Better irrigation system can ease PH rice problem: Malaca\u00f1ang"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The USDA-FAS has projected the country\u2019s rice imports to reach a record 3 million metric tons (MT) by year-end\u2014the highest in the world and the highest for the country while China is expected to import 2.5 million MT. (File Photo<\/a>: CIF Action\/Flickr<\/a>, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0— Malaca\u00f1ang recognizes the Philippines\u2019 long-standing problem of relying on rice imports to meet demand but assured the public that government is working to address it.<\/p>\n

This, after the latest report of the United States Department of Agriculture-Foreign Agriculture Services (USDA-FAS) showed that the Philippines has emerged as the top global importer of rice, beating China.<\/p>\n

The USDA-FAS has projected the country\u2019s rice imports to reach a record 3 million metric tons (MT) by year-end\u2014the highest in the world and the highest for the country while China is expected to import 2.5 million MT.<\/p>\n

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador said he was not surprised by the figures admitting that the country\u2019s irrigation system needs improvement.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not surprised. China is such a huge country.\u00a0Tayo naman maliit lang. Ang dami ngang reklamo ng mga<\/em>\u00a0farmers\u00a0natin. Wala tayong tubig,<\/em>\u00a0irrigation. \u2018Yun ang nagiging problema. Samantalang sa<\/em>\u00a0China,\u00a0punta ka dun, iba ang<\/em>\u00a0production\u00a0doon<\/em>\u00a0(We\u2019re just a small country. Our farmers have a lot of complaints. We don\u2019t have water, irrigation. That\u2019s the problem. While China, if you go there, their production is different),\u201d Panelo said in a Palace briefing.<\/p>\n

Panelo lamented how an agricultural country like the Philippines is trailing behind its neighbors in Southeast Asia such as Thailand.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe recognize that problem. Ever since\u00a0\u2018yan ang nagiging problema natin. Yung mga tinuruan nating mga taga<\/em>\u00a0Thailand\u00a0ang gagaling. Nag-aral lang dito, pagkatapos, talo na tayo. Kasi nga<\/em>\u00a0ever since\u00a0\u2018yan ang naging problema. Marami tayong<\/em>\u00a0rice land\u00a0pero hindi pumapasok yung mga tubig<\/em>\u00a0(That has been our problem. The Thai we taught before are now experts. They study here, and we lose to them. Because ever since, that has been our problem. We have rice lands but water cannot enter),\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n

\u201cKaya<\/em>\u00a0(That\u2019s why) we really have to improve on our irrigation system\u00a0para maganda ang<\/em>\u00a0production (so that we have better production),\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

However, Panelo said farmers are already benefitting from the Free Irrigation Service Act (R.A. 10969) signed by President Rodrigo Duterte last February 2018.<\/p>\n

The law fulfills the President\u2019s promise to ensure that free irrigation services are made available to poor farmers through the continued construction, repair, and maintenance of necessary irrigation facilities.<\/p>\n

Panelo also said Agriculture Secretary William Dar continues to undertake measures to solve problems confronting the agriculture industry.<\/p>\n

He said Dar is competent enough to implement measures that will increase the country\u2019s rice production.<\/p>\n

\u201cSecretary Dar has been appointed there precisely because he used to head that department and he was successful during his stint, so he would be knowledgeable on how to curb whatever problems are existing today,\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n

Among others, Panelo said Dar made a proposal to give away additional subsidy to farmers who are suffering from lower palay prices as a result of the Rice Tariffication Law (R.A. 11203) signed by the President last February.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Cabinet approved that (farmers subsidy),\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n

Farmers groups have blamed the Rice Liberalization Law for the falling farm gate prices of palay which fell to as low as PHP7 in Central Luzon.<\/p>\n

The Rice Tarification Law allows unlimited rice importation, but investors must first secure a phytosanitary permit from the Bureau of Plant Industry and pay the 35-percent tariff for shipments from Southeast Asia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0— Malaca\u00f1ang recognizes the Philippines\u2019 long-standing problem of relying on rice imports to meet demand but assured the public that …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":206550,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-237289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-azer-parrocha","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=237289"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237289\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":237292,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237289\/revisions\/237292"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/206550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=237289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=237289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=237289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}