Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. remains bullish on achieving the growth target this year despite the country facing various natural phenomena.

The DA earlier expressed its target of increasing local output by 1 to 2 percent this year.

“Well, this year's targets are actually not too easy,” he said in a post-State of the Nation Address (SoNA) discussion in Pasay City.

“Because we started with El Niño in January, it just ended in June, and now we're coming with La Niña. But of course, we have more irrigated land, as mentioned by the President,” he added, further expressing optimism about increased production.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., on his third SoNA on Monday, said that because of the completion of the Jalaur River Multipurpose Project in Iloilo, almost 32,000 hectares of land will be irrigated.

The agri chief further expressed hopes that no disastrous typhoon will hit the country this year, reiterating that local production is lower during the La Niña season.

“But in La Niña, as long as there are no big typhoons, I think we should have increased productivity,” he said.

State weather bureau PAGASA earlier raised its warning status from La Niña Watch to La Niña Alert, citing that the chance of La Niña occurring beginning in August is now at 70 percent.

‘4.7-M MT rice imports unlikely’

A United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) report in June projected the Philippines to remain the top rice importer globally this year and is expected to have an increased rice import of 4.7 million metric tons (MT) following the imposed tariff reduction. 

The estimated import volume is  500,000 MT, up from its forecast of 4.2 MT in May. The USDA attributed the volume increment to ‘rising consumption with reduced tariffs.’

Laurel, however, said lowering the import levy is unlikely to affect import volume. 

“There's no real baring, in my opinion. The only reason the importation will increase is because of demand, not because of lowering the tariff," he said.

“If there's a lack of demand, even if it's low, even if it's a zero tariff, importation will be lower. It's basically demand-driven.  I really don't think we will reach  4.7 [MMT rice imports],” he added.