Rice inventory down in Philippines —PSA

Amid the low pork supply, the Philippine Statistics Authority said rice supply in the country also went down by 12.8 percent.

According to Mariz Umali’s report on “24 Oras” on Thursday, as of January 1, 2021, the rice supply in the country is only at 2.33 million metric tons.

The rice supply in the commercial warehouse also decreased by 27.5 percent or over 689,000 metric tons.

Meanwhile, the rice stock of the National Food Authority went down by 32.8 percent or more than 352,000 metric tons.

Moreover, Philippine Integrated Rice Program of the Department of Agriculture said the low rice supply is due to the series of typhoons during the last quarter of 2020.

“Napakalaki noon kasi inabot ka ng baha, inabot ng bagyo, talagang malaki ‘yong mawawala sa’tin. Sunod-sunod pa. ‘Yong iba na-harvest nga ‘yong palay, hindi mo naman ma-dry, masisira ‘yong palay din,” Philippine Integrated Rice Program director Dionisio Alvindia said.

However, the DA assured the public that the country’s rice supply is still adequate.

“Nagsa-start na tayo mag-harvest niyong February, March kaya itong first quarter, hindi masyadong malaki ang epekto niyan,” Alvindia said.—Ma. Angelica Garcia/LDF, GMA News