Rice production will likely slow down to 3-4 percent this year compared to the 8.08 percent growth recorded last year due to the recent calamities that struck the country, Agriculture Undersecretary Dante De Lima said yesterday.

The projected rate of rice production needs to be trim down to 4 percent-5 percent for the next three years which is below the original target of 6 percent under the food self-sufficiency program of the DA, according to De Lima.

“We believe that this growth is sustainable because of these calamities. We need to adapt to this new normal,” he said.

However, he still believes that the country will still achieve its goal of rice self-sufficiency next year. He reiterated that the Philippines will be able to achieve 97 percent rice self-sufficiency from 82 percent in 2010.

He also cited statistics showing that rice production has increased in the past few years from -3.27 percent in 2009, -3.09 percent in 2010, 5.78 percent in 2011, and 8.08  percent last year.

“Rice self-sufficiency depends on the investment of the government on irrigation,” the agriculture undersecretary emphasized.

The DA is aiming to generate at least an additional 200,000 hectares of irrigated areas next year up to 2016 on top of the 1.5 million hectares that already exist and will be lobbying for an increase in the budget for irrigation next year.

De Lima also urged government to promote the growth of other staple crops in order to diversify the country’s food supply.

Losses in production need to be offset during the first quarter of next year to sustain the recovery of the agriculture sector.*PNA

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