Bacolod City – Negros Occidental is 84 percent rice sufficient, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson has declared.
“Definitely, we will need rice to come in our province,” Lacson said.
He added that the province needs more rice production to cushion the looming shortage due to global demand and calamities.
“If we listen to the President, we are okay this year, and we will have to address it next year,” Lacson said.
Former Agriculture Secretary Leonardo Montemayor blamed the increase in prices of rice due to tight supply, with supplies down to 39 days, based on reports of the National Food Authority.
Montemayor, who chairs the Federation of Free Farmers, also disclosed that the low supply of rice can be attributed to the damage caused by recent typhoons.
In a recent interview with reporters in Ilog, Lacson said that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. assured that there will be no rice shortfall.
“If it’s short in production, I think the resort is to import rice.” he added. (Gilbert Bayoran via The Visayan Daily Star (TVDS), photo courtesy of TVDS)
