recent storms and the worst of the El Nino season will leave the country without sufficient stocks of rice and send its price spiraling out of control.
But after typhoon “Egay” flattened P1.54 billion worth of crops across thousands of hectares of farmland planted to mostly rice and corn, the DA must explore other means to bolster the country’s current rice buffer stock of just 1.54 days — far below the required 9 days. “Everybody’s preparing for E l Niño. Almost al rice-consuming nations in Southeast Asia are buying rice simultaneously. This is problematic.
The Federation of Free Farmers said it will be difficult for the government to import rice with the RTL in place since the NFA is prohibited from importing. The municipality of Mamburao in Occidental Mindoro as well as Abulog in Cagayan are still steeped from the flood, as farmers are seeking assistance from legislators in the form of food for work.