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Storms cut Philippine rice production in 2009: govt
Manila (AFP) Jan 20, 2010 Rice production in the Philippines, the world's biggest importer of the grain, fell by more than 3.0 percent last year after a series of major storms damaged crops, the government said Wednesday. Tropical storm Ketsana and Typhoon Parma, which claimed more than 1,100 lives in October and November as they pummelled the main island of Luzon, were mainly responsible for the fall in rice output, the agriculture ministry said. Unmilled rice production was 16.26 million tonnes last year, down 3.31 percent from 2008, the ministry said in its annual report. The government had already made large tenders in a tight global market late last year to head off possible shortages of rice, the staple food for the 93 million Filipinos. The entire crops sector, which accounted for 46.80 percent of total agricultural output, also slid by 1.42 percent last year due to the bad weather and rising fertiliser costs, the ministry said. However, livestock, poultry and fisheries managed slight increases to push agricultural growth up by 0.37 percent overall. Of the Philippines' key export crops, coconut production rose 2.20 percent while bananas added 3.74 percent as key growing areas escaped the worst of the destructive storms.
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