RP needs more investment in agriculture - Loren

Senator Loren Legarda today aired International Rice Research Institute's (IRRI) call for the Philippines to reinvest in agriculture in the face of an impending worldwide crisis in food.

"It would be wise for the government to listen to the advice of IRRI to pay a close attention to signs of looming food crisis worldwide by way of investing more on agriculture and research," said Legarda.

The chair of the Senate Committee on Economic Affairs made the call in reaction to the IRRI's latest pronouncement that the world's food production has dramatically declined due to a number of factors, including climate change.

Legarda added that the Laguna-based institute that pioneered in the extensive rice research in the early 60s also noted the growing industrialization in newborn countries as one big reason in the decline in food production.

"These new countries because of their bid to keep pace with the challenges of technology, are fast-converting their agricultural lands to industrial sites, malls, and commercial areas, forgetting agriculture in the process," she said.

The impending crisis is expected to have domino effect on the Philippines which also imports rice to sustain food requirement for its growing population, which is now close 89 million according to the latest population census conducted by the National Statistics Office (NSO).

"Population explosion certainly affects food production because lands that may be devoted to agriculture may have to be converted to residential to sustain the need for housing," she said.

A few months back, the Philippines suffered shortage in rice, but early rains somewhat prevented what could have been a serious and full-blown food crisis in a country that used to export rice in the early 70s.

"We should not be confident enough just because we were able to survive that shortage in rice supply early this year," Legarda said.

Legarda explained that should food crisis become global, the Philippines could not expect other countries to come into the rescue.

"If this crisis is indeed global in scope, we cannot think other countries will prioritize helping us before addressing their own," she said. "If, before, food was readily available, that may not be true this time."

With the series of typhoons wrecking havoc on the countryside, the Philippines food production has somewhat already suffered dramatic slide, and IRRI added that the increase in food prices months ago would pale in comparison to the probable increase when this crisis is finally felt.

"Because our farmers fell prey to the series of typhoons that struck our countryside, the expected bountiful harvest may never be realized at all and that may trigger increased prices," she explained.

The Philippines was once self-sufficient in terms of rice production, even enjoyed the luxury of exporting the same following the rice production revolution instigated by the IRRI in the early 70s.

Legarda also revealed the feasibility of rice breed which can be easily propagated even under water.

"The country will have to be serious about this new challenge in food security, and it needs to act now," she said.