GENERAL SANTOS CITY – Despite the devastation caused by typhoons “Ondoy” and “Pepeng” on agricultural crops predicating the lean months, the price of rice remains stable up to now, Tony dela Cruz, National Food Authority regional chief for Southern Mindanao said.

Lean months cover June, July and August, a time when farmers are planting. Then, the expected bumper harvests turned into a nightmare when the two killer typhoons destroyed crops in Luzon worth P5 billion in October.

“It was a blessing in disguise, the imported rice bought by the private sector this year served as buffer or security stock when the shortage occurred due to lean months aggravated by Ondoy and Pepeng,” Dela Cruz said with a smile.

He revealed that annually, the country imports 10 percent of the total rice production ranging from 13 million to 15 million metric tons, an estimate for the shortfall in total yield.

Of this 10 percent, which makes the Philippines the biggest rice importer in the world, Dela Cruz said a portion is allotted to the private sector, the retailers or the farmers’ cooperatives.

The NFA official claimed that some 150,000 to 200,000 metric tons of rice were imported by the private sector this year and this helped hold the prices since the lean months up to now.

“This is done, as a policy of Administrator Jessup Navarro, since NFA does not have enough funds to buy it and in order to meet the required shortage and attain food security, especially when calamities occur, like Ondoy and Pepeng,” Dela Cruz explained.

Navarro said that NFA imported rice for 2.3 million tons in 2008 and lesser at 1.775 million metric tons for 2009.

But due to the multi-billion damage wrought by Ondoy and Pepeng in agricultural crops, NFA is expected to import 2.5 million metric tons for its buffer and security requirement for 2010.