Rice production in the Philippines explained

In the Philippines, rice production is an important aspect of the country's food supply and economy. The Philippines is the 8th-largest rice producer in the world, accounting for 2.8% of global rice production. The Philippines was also the world's largest rice importer in 2010.[1] There are an estimated 2.4 million rice farmers in the Philippines as of 2020.

Production

Rice is the most important food crop, and is a staple food in most of the country. It is especially produced in Luzon, the Western Visayas, Southern Mindanao, and Central Mindanao.[2]

In 2010, nearly 20.7 million metric tons of palay (pre-husked rice) were produced.[3] In 2010, palay accounted for 21.86% percent of gross value added in agriculture and 2.37% of GNP.[4] In 2017, the total paddy rice output met 93% of the country's annual requirement. The population consumed 11.7 million tonnes of rice.[5] Historically, the per-hectare rice yields in the Philippines have generally been low in comparison with other Asian countries.

Farmers

See also: Land reform in the Philippines.

There are an estimated estimated 2.4 million rice farmers in the Philippines as of 2020.[6] The average age of rice farmers is 56 years; 82% of rice farmers are men and 18% are women.[7] Many Filipino farmers live in poverty due to a combination of factors, including economic policy, environmental, and land ownership issues.[8] [9]

History

Precolonial

See main article: Emergence of agriculture in the Philippines. The first evidence of rice found in the Philippines dates to between 2025 BC and 1432 BC.[10]

The Green Revolution

See also: Green Revolution. The Green Revolution, which was a period of greatly increased crop yields worldwide as a result of technology transfer initiatives, kicked off in the Philippines in 1960 during the administration of President Carlos P. Garcia, with the establishment of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).[11] IRRI's research process led to its best-known contribution to the green revolution half a decade and two presidential administrations later in 1966 - the introduction of the "miracle rice," the high-yielding semi-dwarf IR8 rice variety.[11] [12]

The proportion of "miracle" rice in total output rose from zero in 1965–66 to 81 percent in 1981–82.[2] Average productivity increased from 1.23 metric tons per hectare in 1961 to 3.59 metric tons per hectare in 2009.[13]

This green revolution was accompanied by an expanded use of chemical inputs. Among farmers surveyed in Central Luzon, the quantity of insecticide active ingredient applied per hectare increased tenfold from 1966 to 1979, from less than 0.1 kilogram per hectare to nearly 1.0 kilogram per hectare. By the mid-1990s, this figure had been cut in half. Since then, use has declined even more, and levels of insecticide use are now slightly below what they were before the Green Revolution began.

Masagana 99

See also: Masagana 99. The administration of Ferdinand Marcos made the promotion of IR8 the lynchpin of its Masagana 99 program in 1973, accompanied by a farmer credit program.[11] But by 1980, the program's initial succcesses were overrun by problems arising from the credit scheme[14] and the usurpation of the program for political patronage.[15] [16] [17]

Growth of irrigation

The government also undertook a major expansion of the nation's irrigation system. The area under irrigation grew from under 500,000 hectares in the mid-1960s to 1.5 million hectares in 2009, almost half of the potentially irrigable land.[3]

In the 1980s rice production encountered problems. Average annual growth for 1980-85 declined to a mere 0.9 percent, as contrasted with 4.6 percent for the preceding fifteen years. Growth of value added in the rice industry also fell in the 1980s. Tropical storms and droughts, the general economic downturn of the 1980s, and the 1983-85 economic crisis all contributed to this decline.[2]

Crop loans dried up, prices of agricultural inputs increased, and palay prices declined. Fertilizer and plant nutrient consumption dropped 15 percent. Farmers were squeezed by rising debts and declining income. Hectarage devoted to rice production, level during the latter half of the 1970s, fell an average of 2.4 percent per annum during the first half of the 1980s, with the decline primarily in marginal, nonirrigated farms. As a result, in 1985, the last full year of the Marcos regime, the country imported 538,000 tons of rice.[2]

The situation improved somewhat in the late 1980s, and smaller amounts of rice were imported. In 1990 the country experienced a severe drought. Output fell by 1.5 percent, forcing the importation of an estimated 400,000 tons of rice.[2]

As of 2018, the Philippines had a WTO-approved annual quota limiting private rice imports to protect local farmers, buying up to 805,200 tonnes of rice with a 35 percent import tariff.

Genetic engineering

The government has promoted genetically modified rice, including golden rice, for production in the country.[18] The Supreme Court of the Philippines issued a Writ of Kalikasan in 2023 ordering the Department of Agriculture to stop the commercial distribution of genetically modified rice and eggplants in the country.[19]

Rice Tariffication Law

The Rice Tariffication Law (RTL) in the Philippines, Republic Act No. 11203, implemented in 2019, transitioned rice importation from quantitative restrictions to tariffs of 35-40%. It established the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF), funded by these tariffs. By 2021, rice production (palay) in the Philippines reached 20.0 million metric tons (MMT), a 3.5% increase from 2020, despite rice imports rising to 2.9 MMT. The RTL has significantly influenced the management of inflation in the rice sector since its implementation and serves as an approach for potential reforms in the agricultural sector of the Philippines.[20]

On May 20, 2024, the House of Representatives of the Philippines approved on third reading House Bill 10381, the "Rice Tariffication Law" amendments.Wilbert T. Lee told People's Television Network "Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon," that the "NFA's role would be an "equalizer" by purchasing palay from local farmers at a higher price and selling it at a lower price to consumers."[21]

Climate change

Philippine rice cultivation is both vulnerable to the effects of global climate change and a contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.[22] This vulnerability to climate change threatens the country's food security. A report published by the United Nations Development Programme and supported by the Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources recommends the adoption of policies and programs to address the effects and causes of climate change.[23]

In 2008–2011, the International Labour Organization and Philippine government agencies set up a pilot project to strengthen socio-economic resilience to climate change for Agusan del Norte rice farmers, through financial protection schemes and the diversification of livelihoods.[24]

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: Factbox - Top 10 rice exporting, importing countries. 30 March 2011. Reuters. 28 January 2011.
  2. Web site: Philippines: A Country Study:Rice and the Green Revolution. June 1991. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.. March 21, 2009.
  3. Web site: Palay: Volume of Production by Cereal Type, Geolocation, Period and Year. CountrySTAT Database. Bureau of Agricultural Statistics. 30 March 2011. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110320180142/http://countrystat.bas.gov.ph/. 20 March 2011.
  4. Web site: Philippine economy posts 7.1 percent GDP growth. National Accounts of the Philippines. National Statistical Coordination Board. 30 March 2011. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110415021155/http://www.nscb.gov.ph/sna/2010/4th2010/2010hi4.asp. 15 April 2011.
  5. News: Philippines to Import Rice Through 2020 Despite Rising Output - Minister . 4 July 2018. Reuters (via Agriculture.com). 19 June 2018.
  6. Web site: Profile of the Filipino Farmer . 2023-06-01 . Philippine Rice Research Institute.
  7. Web site: Age, Sex and Civil Status . 2023-06-01 . Philippine Rice Research Institute.
  8. Web site: Habacon . John Patrick . 2021-03-13 . [OPINION] Why Filipino farmers suffer ]. 2023-06-01 . Rappler . en-US.
  9. Web site: 2021-07-07 . People's Review of SDG 1 & 10: Regressive gov't policies hinder poverty, inequality eradication . 2023-06-01 . IBON Foundation . en.
  10. Acabado, Stephen B. (2012). “Taro Before Rice Terraces: Implications of Radiocarbon Determinations, Ethnohistoric Reconstructions, and Ethnography in Dating the Ifugao Terraces.” 285-305.
  11. Web site: The Development of "Miracle Rice" Varieties . Ganzel . Bill . 2007 . Wessels Living History Farm . Ganzel Group . 19 September 2017.
  12. News: IR8: The miracle rice which saved millions of lives. Rowlatt. Justin. 2016-12-01. BBC News. en-GB. 2016-12-05.
  13. Web site: 2009 Crop Production Statistics. FAO Stat. FAO Statistics. 30 March 2011.
  14. Web site: Esguerra . E.F. . 1980 . Some notes on the Masagana 99 [rice] program and small farmer access to credit [Philippines] ]. 19 September 2017 . Philippine Sociological Review (Philippines).
  15. Davidson . Jamie S. . 2016-01-02 . Why the Philippines Chooses to Import Rice . Critical Asian Studies . 48 . 1 . 100–122 . 10.1080/14672715.2015.1129184 . 155783676 . 1467-2715.
  16. News: Reyes . Miguel Paolo P. . Ariate . Joel F. Jr. . Del Mundo . Lara Vinda . 'Success' of Masagana 99 all in Imee's head - UP researchers . en . Vera Files . live . 2020-05-24 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200524143622/https://www.verafiles.org/articles/success-masagana-99-all-imees-head-researchers . 2020-05-24.
  17. Web site: Tadem. Eduardo C.. 2015-09-02. Marcoses should apologize to Filipino farmers. 2021-11-02. Inquirer. en.
  18. Freedman . Amy . Rice security in Southeast Asia: beggar thy neighbor or cooperation? . . . 26 . 5 . 2013 . 0951-2748 . 10.1080/09512748.2013.842303 . 433–454. 153573639 . p.443
  19. Web site: April 19, 2023 . SC orders stop to commercial release of genetically modified rice, eggplant products . https://web.archive.org/web/20230419122726/https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2023/4/19/stop-commercial-release-rice-eggplant.html . dead . April 19, 2023 . 2023-06-01 . CNN . en.
  20. Web site: Rice Tarrification Law is the best model that we have to help both farmers and consumers . National Economic and Development Authority, Republic of the Philippines.
  21. News: Cervantes. Filane Mikee. House passes bill on Rice Tariffication Law amendments. May 22, 2024 . May 21, 2024.
  22. Web site: Adaptation and Mitigation Initiatives in Philippine Rice Cultivation . 2023-06-01 . United Nations Development Programme . en.
  23. Book: Adaptation and Mitigation Initiatives in Philippine Rice Cultivation . United Nations Development Programme . 2015.
  24. Web site: 2013-08-07 . The Philippines: Climate change adaptation for vulnerable farming populations . 2023-06-01 . International Labour Organization . en.