SCIENCE CITY OF MUÑOZ, Nueva Ecija — The Senate is mulling the imposition of 35-percent tariff to imported rice to level the playing field at PHP8 per kilo production cost, a senator said here on Tuesday.
Sen. Cynthia Villar, chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food, said the equal footing in the scheme can, at the moment, is possible with rice imported from Vietnam and rice produced in Nueva Ecija.
Villar, who met with farmers from various parts of the country at the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) in Barangay Maligaya during the agency’s Lakbay Palay, cited a report from the Nueva Ecija’s agriculture office that rice is produced at PHP8 a kilo in the province.
This is way below the PHP12 a kilo national average cost, she said.
In Vietnam, the senator noted, rice production is placed at PHP6 a kilo thus, will increase to PHP8 when imposed with 35-percent tariff which is the maximum allowable tariff in Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Provincial Agriculture Office reported that Nueva Ecija produces an average of 5.8 metric tons per hectare or PHP8 a kilo production cost.
“If you put 35-percent tariff on PHP6, it will be PHP8, so they can compete? But in the whole Philippines, the average yield is 4.1 metric tons per hectare and the cost is PHP12 a kilo, thus there is a problem,” Villar explained.
Meanwhile, some 1,500 participants composed of farmers, students, extension workers and researchers will participate in this year’s week-long dry season Lakbay Palay.
Lakbay Palay is a field day held by PhilRice twice a year, during the dry and wet seasons, to showcase its rice farming technologies to a wide range of rice stakeholders.
For this season, the Lakbay Palay’s theme centers on the use of quality seed and renewable energy.
Activities for the event include farm visits, distribution of rice knowledge products, and onsite expert dialogue/consultation.
Technologies to be featured are: public hybrid rice varieties, hybrid rice seed production (AxR), wireless sensor network, rice machines, mobile rice husk gasifier, kwebo (typhoon-resistant structure), capillarigation (low-cost irrigation system), zero-waste pig, goat production, solar-powered smart house, drone study, traditional rice varieties, rice paddy art, and organic rice production.
The event will also highlight the advantages of using the five nationally recommended inbred varieties, such as NSIC Rc 222, Rc 216, Rc 160, Rc 300, and Rc 238. (PNA)
