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THE PHILIPPINES\u2019 rice imports this 12 months could reach 4.8 million metric tons (MMT), potentially <\/span>matching or exceeding the elevated level recorded in 2024, as rising input costs and a looming El Ni\u00f1o threaten domestic output, the Department of Agriculture <\/span>(DA) said.<\/p>\n \u201cDue to pressure, it\u2019s possible that we are going to import 4.8 million metric tons this 12 months, or more,\u201d Agriculture Assistant Secretary Arnel V. de Mesa told reporters on Tuesday.<\/p>\n He said the DA\u2019s rice program has raised its import projection from an initial 4 MMT to make sure an 85-day year-end stock, a food security benchmark utilized by the agency.<\/span><\/p>\n For the primary quarter alone, the Bureau of Plant Industry said the country imported 1.29 MMT of rice, which was 40.17% higher than the year-earlier shipments of 917,855 MT and 71.54% higher than the DA\u2019s earlier forecast of 750,000 MT.<\/p>\n The DA said higher import volumes are needed to assist stabilize local supply and costs amid a projected decline in rice production this 12 months.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s pressure because we\u2019ll see in the subsequent planting\u2026 we’ve three shocks that we are able to expect,\u201d Mr. de Mesa said, citing rising oil prices, higher fertilizer costs, and a looming El Ni\u00f1o.<\/p>\n The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) on Wednesday raised an El Ni\u00f1o alert, saying the phenomenon is more likely to develop in the approaching months and start as early as June, bringing drier-than-usual conditions that might affect agriculture.<\/p>\n Mr. de Mesa said higher fuel costs could increase expenses for land preparation and farm operations, while fertilizer prices are being monitored at around P2,500 to P2,800 per bag.<\/p>\n The DA earlier cut its 2026 palay (unmilled rice) output estimate to 19.87 MMT from the unique 20.28 MMT goal following weaker first-quarter data.<\/p>\n \u201cDue to reduction within the estimates, their projection was reduced to 19.87 MMT,\u201d Mr. de Mesa said.<\/p>\n The Philippine Statistics Authority reported that palay production in the primary quarter likely declined 6.9% to 4.37 MMT from 4.7 MMT a 12 months earlier.<\/p>\n Mr. de Mesa said output could fall further if input costs remain elevated.<\/p>\n \u201cThe 19.87 MMT could be further reduced\u2026 if the value of fertilizer goes as much as as high as P3,500 per bag\u2026 [and] if the value of oil goes as much as P150 to P190,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n If production falls to around 18.8 MMT, this could be the bottom palay output for the reason that 17.62 MMT recorded in 2016.<\/p>\n The DA said additionally it is monitoring the potential impact of El Ni\u00f1o, which could further dampen production in the approaching months.<\/p>\n Mr. de Mesa said risks are more pronounced for the second cropping season, where output losses may very well be significant.<\/p>\n \u201cFor the second cropping season, the best-case scenario is 20% reduction in output; worst case is 50%,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe projected harvest of the second crop is 10 to 11 million metric tons\u2026 20% of that’s 1 to 2 million metric tons. Whether it is half, it’s as much as 5 million metric tons that could be lost. That’s the worst-case scenario.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the DA said it’s promoting using biofertilizers as a cheap alternative to fuel-based inputs to assist cushion the impact of rising costs.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMany farmers are already using various kinds of biofertilizer, [and] it could possibly reduce the necessities of inorganic [fertilizer] from 20% as much as 50%,\u201d Mr. de Mesa said.<\/p>\n He added that P500 million of the DA\u2019s P1-billion Quick Response Fund, activated following the declaration of a state of national energy emergency, can be used to obtain biofertilizers ahead of the subsequent cropping season. \u2014 Vonn Andrei E. Villamiel<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Philippine Statistics Authority reported that palay production in the primary quarter likely declined 6.9% to 4.37 MMT from 4.7 MMT a 12 months earlier. \u2014 BW FILE PHOTO THE PHILIPPINES\u2019 rice imports this 12 months could reach 4.8 million metric tons (MMT), potentially matching or exceeding the elevated level recorded in 2024, as rising […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":323025,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[2434,15665,35651,17176,12013],"class_list":["post-323024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-hit","tag-imports","tag-mmt","tag-phl","tag-rice"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=323024"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323024\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":323027,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323024\/revisions\/323027"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/323025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=323024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=323024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=323024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}