The Department of Agriculture on Monday debunked claims that the Philippines will have to import as much as 3.4 million metric tons of rice next year to meet the anticipated shortage of the staple.

DA Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban and two other Agriculture officials dismissed the reports in a press conference after the Federation of Free Farmers said last week that rice stocks would be in the negative — by 427,000 tons — by the third quarter of next year.

Panganiban clarified that there would be "a lot" of imported rice up until the first quarter of 2023.

"What you are probably referring to is the lower beginning stock of rice, kasi nasanay tayo na talaga ng mataas (because we are used to the high number of stocks)," DA Undersecretary Mercedita Sombilla explained in the same press conference.

"Kaya nga sinasabi naming binabalanse naming ito ng (That's why we are trying to balance it with) imports. Meaning, we have suffered rice production losses because of the back-to-back typhoons," Sombilla added.

Sombilla admitted that rice production decreased in the Philippines. Still, she said the country had to import rice.

"But at the end, iyong total inventory natin at the end of the year is much lower than what we have in the past year (But at the end, our total inventory at the end of the year is much lower than what we have in the past year)," Sombilla said.