Rice production in the Philippines, the world’s biggest importer of the grain, will likely slump in the fourth quarter, potentially boosting imports next year after storms damaged at least 7 percent of crops.

At least 450,000 metric tons of rough rice was lost, Agriculture Undersecretary Emmanuel Paras said in an interview yesterday, and the damage estimate may rise as more reports from flooded areas come in, he added. The fourth-quarter harvest was estimated at 6.5 million tons by the country’s Bureau of Agricultural Statistics in August.

Tropical Storm Ketsana (local name: Ondoy) struck the largest rice-growing region in the country last week, killing at least 295 people, flooding farms and wiping out inventories in cities including Marikina and Pasig, and parts of the provinces of Laguna and Bulacan, the nation’s third-largest rice-milling area.

Losses from Typhoon Parma, which lashed Cagayan, the second-largest producing province, on Oct. 3 haven’t been assessed yet, Paras said. The storm was still hovering off the north of the country, the Philippines weather service said early Friday.