THE Department of Agriculture (DA), through its attached agency, the National Food Authority (NFA), is encouraging the public to eat brown rice. Besides being considered more nutritious than white rice, brown rice can help the Philippines save on grain imports, a former chairman of the Asia Rice Foundation (ARF) said.

In a paper written in 2004, former ARF chairman Emil Q. Javier said eating brown rice has two economic benefits.

Forgoing polishing and whitening palay reduces the power demands of milling by as much as 65 percent.

With the bran and the nutrient-rich embryo intact, and with fewer broken grains, Javier noted that whole-grain milling recovery is as much as 10 percent higher than for white rice.

“So, if all the rice grown in the Philippines, for example, were consumed as brown rice, there would be no need for rice imports,” said Javier, who previously served as the president of the University of the Philippines.

Meanwhile, the NFA, citing studies, noted that brown rice is a rich source of dietary fiber and is a healthier alternative for people suffering from diabetes, obesity and heart-related ailments. 

Studies also show that brown rice has both preventive and curative properties for cancer.

Research from the ARF also indicates that the complete milling and polishing process in the conversion of brown rice to white rice destroys 15 percent of  its protein, 85 percent of its fat, 90 percent of its calcium, 75 percent of its phosphorus, 80 percent of its thiamine, 70 percent of its riboflavin and 68 percent of its niacin contents.

According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, brown rice is also an excellent source of manganese and the minerals selenium and magnesium.

Its research shows that one cup of brown rice provides 88 percent of the daily value for manganese, the trace mineral that helps produce energy from protein and carbohydrates. Manganese is also involved in the synthesis of fatty acids that are important for a healthy nervous system, and in the production of cholesterol that is used by the body to produce sex hormones.

Currently, the Philippines, the world’s largest rice exporter, is planning to import as much as 2.1 million metric tons (MMT) of rice from traditional and nontraditional sources.

Tight supplies in the world market, as well as the inability of current palay production to keep pace with increasing demand, has forced the Philippine government to eye measures that will avert a possible rice shortage.

Earlier, in a separate report, the Philippines’ agriculture chief reassured the public that there won’t be a rice supply shortage while announcing a latest government decision to expand investment to boost domestic rice production.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has approved the augmentation of P1.5 billion ($36.6 million) for various seed projects, said Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap.

Yap said more certified seeds would be planted in irrigated lands that were not earmarked for hybrid rice.

Certified seeds can yield four-and-a-half tons per hectare, 25 percent more than the commonly used good seeds, while hybrid rice seeds yield 6.5 tons per hectare, Yap said.

He said the “thin” rice supply in the world market has put pressure on the Philippines, one of the world’s largest rice importers.

“What is happening right now is unprecedented,” he said.

The government earlier said state rice stock once dropped to the level of lasting just nine days, well below the 15-day average. Yap said at present the government accumulates a total of 415.6 thousand metric tons of rice in storage, good for 13 days supply.

The Palace on Tuesday promised the public a steady rice supply even during the three-month dry season.

However, President Arroyo said a price rise is expected.

Due to a global rice-price hike, the Philippines in this month paid more than double the usual amount for foreign rice.

The government has bought about 1.2 million tons of rice, or 68 percent of this year’s import quota, from Vietnam, Thailand and Pakistan.

Starting this month up to April, Yap said the DA is expecting an additional 721,100 metric tons of rice to arrive from contracted imports.

In a related development, the Philippines may remove import taxes on the grain, Finance Secretary Gary Teves said.

“We will study whether a reduction or removal of the import tariff can be for all types of rice importation,” Teves told reporters in Manila last week. Buyers pay a tax of 50 percent on rice imports.

Yap said last week that President Arroyo may issue an order reducing the import tax on corn and rice to “increase the flow of basic commodities into the country.”

Philippine rice imports may increase to 2.1 million tons this year, from 1.9 million tons in 2007, as rising wheat prices make bread and pasta less affordable to poor Filipinos, boosting demand for cheaper food products, Yap said on March 11. (with Bloomberg)

THE Department of Agriculture (DA), through its attached agency, the National Food Authority (NFA), is encouraging the public to eat brown rice.

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