To avoid disruption of the supply of rice, the Arroyo administration has adopted three fundamental responses.
First – ensuring adequate supply by reaching out to its ASEAN neighbors who happens to be big rice-exporting countries.
The government is investing heavily on rice production efficiencies, such as agricultural training and extension, and the shift to hybrid rice seeds.
Second – the government ensures the distribution of rice to people who really need the staple food “most effectively and cost-effectively”; and
Third – the President has ordered maximum vigilance in the sustained vigilance of government’s rice stock to avoid hoarding and the diversion of the cereal to commercial market.
The government is working hard to make sure that our country’s food supplies remain stable and we put food on the table, the President said.
The President also ordered the Agriculture department to help farmers restore their farmlands, especially for those heavily affected by the recent Typhoon Frank” through the provision of good quality rice seeds and monetization for fertilizers through the internal revenue allotment from 2001-2004 arrears of local government units. (PIA/Bohol)
