Braga Blames Land Conversion, Imports For Scarcity Of Rice

Councilor Pilar Braga yesterday blamed land conversion from agriculture to housing and industrial use and the continued importation of rice as the culprits behind the present rice shortage in the country. However, she clarified that there is no rice shortage, only a rice-land shortage.

Braga also blamed the government's stance in discouraging people from becoming farmers by "discouraging agriculture as a way of life" leading to the closure of farming and agricultural schools in the country.

This reminded me of that time several years ago when the entry of the University of the Philippines in Mindanao is still being debated and protested by various universities here saying the state-financed university will only duplicate the existing courses being offered by the Mindanao institutions.

The defense of UP then was that they will offer different courses to differentiate itself to the other institutions. Several years later, UPMindanao is offering almost the same courses being offered by the other institutions like SocSci, Mathematics, Architecture, etc. Perhaps, introducing courses that are being offered by UP Los Baños will help in making sure that the country will produce better farmers in the years to come.

However, at the rate UPMindanao is going where politicking is a way of life and administrative officers are changed one after the other this may still be a long wait.

No Rice Shortage In RP

Is there a rice shortage in the Philippines? Answering this question can be tricky. Rice shortage means the supply of rice is not enough to feed the population. if this is your definition of rice shortage then there is no rice shortage in the Philippines because there is plenty of rice supply both local and imported. However, the answer should not stop there.

While sustainable agriculture should be looked into by the Arroyo government to avoid a rice shortage from really happening in the future, it should go deeper and look into the cause of the seemingly rice shortage in the country. There is no rice shortage. However, you can bet your breakfast that the price of rice is really skyrocketing and this is the problem.

The price of every commodity in the country is rising but the spending power of the Filipinos is running the opposite direction. Ideally, a directly proportional increase between the price of goods and the spending power of the people will not result to a rice shortage. The problem is, the rise in the price of rice is inversely proportional with wage.

Look at all the poor families lining up to get NFA rice. There is enough rice supply but not enough to lower the price of rice. Rule of Economics. If there is great demand with less supply, price will go up. If there is great demand but with ample supply then price will remain stable. If the Filipino have enough money to fill their pockets then there wouldn't be families lining up to get their day's supply of NFA rice. They would rather go to SM or wherever their pockets will lead them

In the end, it is still a problem of the Filipinos being too poor.