Rice production, our staple food and backbone of our food security, is in crisis. Within the backdrop of record breaking world food prices in 30 years, the current rice crisis also highlights the country’s long-term neglect of local agriculture.
The chronic underdevelopment and backwardness of agriculture in the country is rooted in history. When Spain colonized the Philippines, it took control over the land and other resources and dictated how these were to be utilized. Local production systems shifted from the local communities to the Spanish colonizers who appropriated Philippine raw materials for the Galleon trade.
For 300 years, the Spanish colonizers imposed landlord-tenant relations, first through the encomienda and later with the hacienda system. This intensified production of raw materials for trade during the opening of our ports after the Galleon trade. To solve this, it was more convenient to grab larger tracts of lands to satisfy the increased needs for export than to improving technological practice.
 
Under the US colonial occupation, the landlord-tenant structure of the hacienda system was maintained. The hacienderos or Filipino landlords prospered as Philippine agricultural products were exported to the US. In exchange, US goods had free access to the Philippine market.
 
This uncontrolled dumping of surplus goods limited any prospect for domestic industrialization and led the Philippines to a growing dependence on agricultural exports to the US and other countries. It strengthened the hold of a small number of powerful landowners in the countryside which became the chief trading and financial partners of US corporations. This situation of dependence on agricultural exports continued on until today.
 
Agricultural production for local consumption played second fiddle to exports. Food security and self-sufficiency has been further weakened by trade liberalization and heavy reliance on food imports to feed the country. From the Philippine accession to the WTO in 1995, the contribution of local agriculture to the GDP is at declining trend from 20.3% in 1995 to 14.9% in the first quarter of this year 2008.
 
Of the 14.2 million hectares alienable and disposable lands, 93% or 13 million hectares are classified as agricultural lands and yet agricultural mechanization remains at the tail-end of our neighboring countries. Less than 1% of farmers use tractors and power tillers. Only five bags of fertilizer from the recommended eight per hectare is being used. Only 15-20% of total harvests, 65% at post-harvest level, are recovered due to lack of mechanization.
 
Comparing our level of mechanization and rice production per hectarage with our neighbors puts us eighth and sixth out of 11 Asian countries. This backward state of technology results to a low productivity of around 3.5 MT/hectare, one of the lowest in Southeast Asia.
 
There is a lack of credit support for small rice farmers and mostly limited to the promotion of hybrid varieties. Infrastructure development is lacking as in irrigation which cover only 45 per cent of total irrigable lands. Government limits its palay procurement to only about 2-5% of total palay production and instead spends scarce funds in rice importation.
 
This lack of support is further aggravated by the existence of a rice cartel and unscrupulous traders and government officials that manipulate stocks and prices, as well as corruption scandals in the agricultural sector.
 
Domestic production is unable to satisfy our rice needs because of the generally backward conditions of production riding on widespread landlesness of farmers engaged in the rice sector. When the right thing to do is to strengthen the local rice industry as our food security backbone, government's disinterest has broken it to our detriment.
 
But, if the current government is serious in achieving agricultural modernization, it must address landlessness and the lack of government support to sustain agricultural productivity. Instead of extending a flawed CARP law, it should enact the Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill which adresses both and puts food security and self-sufficiency on the right track.
 
Agricultural modernization should be done both to ensure domestic food supplies as well as supplying local industry with raw materials. Comparing our level of mechanization and rice production per hectarage puts us eighth and sixth out of the 11 Asian countries.Steps towards ensuring rice stocks and improving local production towards lessening imports should be taken. Construction of required irrigation systems and development of post-harvest facilities should be done. All these will ultimately be truly effective only if the government reverse its liberalization policies and address landlessness, and implement steps to achieve genuine food security and self-sufficiency.