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Don’t
look now, but the price of rice, the staple food of
Filipinos, has already gone up, and could go higher in
the months ahead. That’s because the price of rice has
increased by 25 percent in a month’s time to a 25-year
high of $460 to $500 per metric ton (MT) in the world’s
two biggest rice producers—Thailand and Vietnam—after
surging from an average of $200 in 2002 to $380 in 2007.
According to the US Department of Agriculture, the
world’s rice stockpile now stands at only 72 million MT,
or 17 percent of global demand. Compare that with 2000,
when rice inventories were equal to 35 percent of annual
global consumption.
But it’s
important to recognize that the imminent food crisis is
due in large part to external factors. There’s climate
change that has led to a marked decline in world grain
production. The world population is steadily growing,
creating greater demand for food. Then there’s the rapid
conversion of fertile farmlands into plantations for
biofuels crops. And, of course, world crude prices have
skyrocketed to prohibitive levels, raising transport and
freight costs as well as the prices of petroleum-based
fertilizers.
It’s
unfair, therefore, to blame our Department of
Agriculture (DA) for the imminent food crisis. In fact,
rice production last year reached its highest levels in
the country’s rice-production history with a record
harvest of 16.24 million MT, despite the dry spell that
severely affected four of Luzon’s major palay-growing
regions.
This
year, the DA hopes to reach an all-time high of 17.32
million MT. This is a doable target, considering that
harvests in April and May are expected to reach 7
million MT, or higher than the 6.7-million MT output
during the same period in 2007.
Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap has come up with a
three-pronged strategy to cope with the expected rice
shortage. It calls for increasing rice production,
systematic rice distribution to ensure the steady supply
of rice buffer stocks in primary markets and depressed
communities, and rice conservation to address the
problem of wastage of the food staple. Rice conservation
is a key element of the strategy because the Food and
Nutrition Research Institute has found that the country
wastes up to 25,000 bags of rice a day, prompting the
National Food Authority (NFA) to ask restaurant and
fast-food owners to offer half-cup servings of rice to
their customers.
The DA
strategy is consistent with the recommendations of the
Asian Development Bank for dealing with the coming food
crunch: continued investments in agricultural
infrastructure, research and technology to develop new
seed varieties and increase yields. Earlier, the DA drew
up a growth agenda that includes higher public spending
on postharvest dryer facilities for rice and corn, as
well as for research and extension work; credit
facilitation; and opening new domestic and overseas
markets for local produce.
All
this, I think, will mitigate the adverse effects of the
rice shortage, and allow Filipinos to cope with the
looming global food crisis.
We
should always have clean and safe water
While
the DA is preoccupied with ensuring rice sufficiency in
the coming months, over at the Department of Environment
and Natural Resources, Secretary Lito Atienza is kept
busy trying to make enough clean and safe water
available to Filipinos.
That’s a
tall order, considering that about 18 Filipinos die each
day from water- and sanitation-related diseases. Thus,
the emphasis on clean and safe water during the
country’s observance of World Water Day on March 26,
which also marked the start of the monthlong
commemoration of Earth Day on April 22 with the theme,
“Ang Tubig ay Yaman ng Buhay.”
Atienza
is on the right track when he says, “We cannot survive
without clean water.” Pollution of water sources is a
serious problem, indeed. Research shows that water
pollution comes mainly from domestic wastes, accounting
for 33 percent; agriculture-livestock, 29 percent;
industry, 27 percent; and others, 11 percent. The
problem of pollution of rivers, seas and lakes from the
dumping of domestic and industrial wastes is compounded
by the overextraction of groundwater, and the dwindling
supply of surface water due to the overexploitation of
forest resources.
The
Environment secretary explains: “A lot of our countrymen
take water for granted. They are not aware that many
areas in the country are now experiencing shortage in
water supply, and the problem could only get worse if we
do not act now to stop the degradation of our water
sources.”
But what
should be done? Atienza believes the simple act of
disposing waste properly contributes immensely to a
clean river, which is a basic source of water supply for
communities. If we fail to deal properly deal with
pollution and degradation of the country’s water sources
and bodies of water, then we should be ready for dire
consequences. In fact, sustained economic growth depends
to a large extent on the quality of our seas and rivers.
“Clean waters bring tremendous economic, ecological and
aesthetic benefits. Murky rivers and polluted lakes
repel development, threaten the people’s health, even
their lives,” Atienza said. On this score there
shouldn’t be any debate at all, if you ask me.
E-mail:
ernhil@yahoo.com. |
