Rice is the staple food of Filipinos, and its affordability will always be a paramount concern of any administration. In place of more expensive protein sources like meat and chicken, rice, for the poor, is usually the answer to a grumbling stomach. It is for this reason that the Philippine government has been, for the longest time, fixated on supporting rice production.
In previous years, the rice sector had enjoyed huge support from the government. During the previous administration, the Department of Agriculture (DA) increased its budget annually in a bid to achieve rice self-sufficiency for the country. For example, the budget for irrigation alone hit P24 billion in 2012, while the allocation for the national rice program reached P6.1 billion, according to government data.
Despite the government’s efforts, the Philippines continued to import rice. In 2015 the total volume of rice contracted by the government reached 1.787 million metric tons (MMT). Even before the ambitious rice self-sufficiency goal of the Aquino administration, the Philippines has been importing some 1 MMT of rice annually to plug the shortfall in production. For this year, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol said the gap between domestic rice production and demand could reach 1.8 MMT.
While these are valid reasons to shoot for rice self-sufficiency at all cost, the government’s fixation on rice production has been detrimental to the production of other crops, which are potential dollar earners, such as cacao. As of November 10, data from the International Cocoa Organization showed that cocoa beans fetched a price of $2,500 per MT. At the current exchange rate, this is equivalent to P120,000 per MT, or P100 per kilogram (kg). In contrast, unmilled rice is being bought at P17 per kg by traders.
Despite this, the government appears to be lukewarm to expanding plantations for cash crops such as cacao. For years, cacao farmers have been appealing to the government to help them increase their output by providing “affordable” production loans. While a road map that outlined the targets and strategies for hiking cacao production has been crafted by the previous administration, its goals were not met. According to the Cocoa Foundation of the Philippines, the cacao farmers would find it difficult to produce as much as 100,000 MT of cacao beans by 2020, as indicated on the government’s cacao road map.
The DA earlier announced it intends to expand the production of high-value crops, such as cacao. There’s a reason why cacao and coffee are called “high-value crops”—these products have the potential to give farmers more income. All the government has to do is to put its money where its mouth is and provide farmers who plant these crops the same level of support that it extends to rice farmers.