An economist has called for a more comprehensive rice development approach that considers not only in terms of production, but also logistics, post-harvest facilities, and value chain development to bring down prices of the country’s staple food.
Dr. Rene Ofreneo, an economist and first Nominee of the ARISE Partylist, in a recent forum advised the Department of Agriculture (DA) to pursue a more comprehensive and integrated approach to rice sector development by targeting support not only in rice production but in post-harvest, logistics and transportation, marketing and value chain development.
“We need to emulate a strong state intervention in rice trade as exemplified by countries like Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and China,” said Ofreneo.
Ofreneo explained that since the passage of the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL) in 2019, the country has experienced persistent food crisis. Under RTL, the government withdrew its support to rice farmers and consumers by eliminating National Food Authority’s (NFA) role in rice price and supply stabilization.
Even with local governments granting palay price support to farmers as in the case of the provincial government of Isabela, the three million rice farmers in the country could not recover from their losses dampening local production and thereby contributing to the crisis, according to Dr. Ofreneo.
