DA slashes rice imports to protect local harvest

The Department of Agriculture (DA) will limit rice importation to around 300,000 metric tons (MT) for March and April, the lowest level in five years, as it seeks to protect farmers from the entry of cheaper imported rice during the harvest season.

- BY DEXTER BARRO II

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel said he recently secured the backing of rice importers and traders to voluntarily limit the purchase of foreign rice for the coming month and the next to 150,000 MT each.

"Our rice importers have agreed to significantly reduce importation during the harvest season to help our farmers," Tiu Laurel told reporters last week.

If the DA succeeds in urging importers to bring in only 300,000 MT of milled rice for March and April, it would be the lowest level since 2021, when nearly 340,000 MT arrived in the country.

The planned import volume represents a 65.5-percent decline from last year's rice imports, which reached 869,842 MT for the two months.