President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. announced that the Philippines has sufficient rice supply until next year when El Niño might affect the country.
“The rice situation is good and stable. We have enough rice for the Philippines even during and after El Niño next year,” the President said during his meeting with business advisors and rice experts in Malacañang.
Agriculture Undersecretary Merceditas Sombillo mentioned that if the Philippines keeps producing rice at the current rate, the country will have about 1.96 million metric tons of rice by the end of this year. This would last for 52 days, which is enough.
The Philippine Statistics Authority thinks that the country will have even more rice supply, around 2.12 million metric tons, which would last for 57 days.
The time for harvesting rice starts in September and ends in November.
Furthermore, some people had warned that rice prices might go up.
The cost is increasing for rice that we import from Vietnam, Thailand, and India.
However, the Federation of Free Farmers thinks that the amount of rice that the country will harvest might decrease due to less rain.
Moreover, El Niño is expected to affect the country during the second and third months of the wet season, which is when rice needs water the most.
Source: Philnews24 | August 10, 2023
