The Department of Agriculture (DA) is still looking forward to harvesting over 20 million metric tons (MT) of palay this year, despite the devastation of rice crops caused by the El Niño phenomenon and Typhoon Aghon.

"We're still optimistic because our target is there. We are aiming for that," DA Undersecretary for Rice Industry Development Engr. Christopher Morales said Monday, stressing that the agency is doing its best to hit its 20.4 million MT palay target volume.

"But of course, we cannot control the external factors affecting our rice production," he noted.

Morales also assured the affected farmers of government assistance to aid in recovery, such as the programs in the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund, the National Irrigation Administration, the hybrid rice program, and their continued collaborations with the private sector.

Based on DA's Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) Operations Center's latest bulletin on agri-damage due to El Niño, the production loss is now estimated to be P9.50 billion from the volume loss of 426,798 MT.

Meanwhile, the total volume of crop loss due to Typhoon Aghon is 2,586 MT, amounting to a value loss of P81.84 million.

Last month, a report from the United States Department of Agriculture once again forecasted the Philippines as the top rice importer worldwide for 2025, with an anticipated 4.2 million MT of rice import volume.

For this year, the USDA has projected the country to remain the world's largest rice importer, with an estimated 4.1 million MT of rice imports.

The Philippines was also the world's top rice importer in 2023.