NO APOLOGY: After he was found to have peddled false information that the father-in-law of Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap was in the rice business, Sen. Nene Pimentel simply shrugged off his failed smear campaign.

Pimentel is not the neighborhood toughie, but a senator of the land. He is subject to a more severe code of proper behavior.

But if the opposition senator refuses to apologize, what can Yap do? Nothing, except probably offer his chin for another vicious uppercut.

* * *

FOOD CRISIS: Yap has been in the news, because gains production has been upset by climate changes, historic peaks in crude oil prices, some countries’ growing more crops for biofuels than for food, and surging demand in fast-growing economies such as China and India.

These factors have conspired to raise fears of a possible global food crisis. It seems the era of cheap food is over.

For many economies like the Philippines, the situation is likely to get worse before it gets any better if oil prices, which reached a whopping $111 a barrel before the Holy Week, continue to move north.

Even international institutions like the World Bank and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization have raised the alarm over this grim food supply scenario.

Many agribusiness industry leaders say it is unfair to blame solely the Agriculture department for a situation created by external and internal factors — such as rapid population growth — that are beyond the department’s control.

* * *

GRAIN, NOT CHAFF: Winnowing the chaff from the grain, we see Agriculture’s remarkable performance since Yap was reappointed secretary some 18 months ago.

The DA’s intervention measures boosted palay harvests to a record 16.24 million metric tons in 2007. Despite a dry spell that ravaged four of Luzon’s palay-producing regions midway through the year, production in 2007 reached its highest level in local rice history.

Not content with this record, Yap said he is targeting 17.32 million MT this year.

With President Gloria’s Arroyo’s big spending on agriculture and the department’s intervention strategy, Yap sees a harvest this summer reaching 7 million MT, an improvement on the 6.7-million-MT record in the same period last year.

* * *

ANTICIPATED: The increase in grains’ prices did not happen by accident. Nor was it totally unexpected.

In a report to the President in a Cabinet meeting before the Holy Week, Yap already mentioned the World Bank report about food prices increasing by 75 percent since 2000 and the FAO survey showing 36 countries needing external assistance to cope with worsening food problems.

Of these countries beset with serious food shortage, nine are in Asia, two in Europe, 21 in Africa and 4 in Latin America. The Philippines is not one of them.

While the Philippines has been spared, Yap noted that rice and corn, whose prices have now reached record-high levels in the world market, are the country’s food staples. He apprised the Cabinet of the need to swiftly address the looming food crunch.

* * *

PRICE JUMP: The price of rice has jumped 25 percent in just one month to the 25-year high of $460-$500 per metric ton in Thailand and Vietnam — the world’s biggest exporters of the staple — after doubling from its $200 average in 2002 to $380 last year.

Data from the US Department of Agriculture show that the world’s rice stock now stands at about 72 million MT, which, excluding wartime, represents a record low of just 17 percent of global demand. Eight years ago, stockpiles were equal to 35 percent of annual consumption worldwide.

Instead of simply complaining like the professional critics or praying that the global situation does not lead to severe shortages or food riots, Agriculture under Yap has been moving to raise yields and meet the government’s self-sufficiency targets in the long haul.

* * *

BOOSTER FUND: The President has approved a P2.82-billion augmentation budget for Agriculture to bankroll a cross commodity expansion program to boost the production of rice, corn, vegetables and other crops.

The extra fund is on top of the P1.5 billion of the regular DA budget that the President decided in February to frontload for such infrastructure as the irrigation systems.

The President directed Yap to expand the department’s hunger-mitigation projects such as the Gulayan ng Masa or backyard vegetable growing program, enhance its Tindahan Natin projects, and set up more barangay food terminals for ordinary consumers as well as bagsakan or drop-off points in urban centers for the produce of farmers and fishermen.

The booster fund would be used also for certified seeds in an additional 600,000 hectares of rain-fed lowlands and low-yielding irrigated areas under the Accelerated Hunger Mitigation Program (AHMP) of Malacañang.

Another 400,000 hectares will be planted to certified and hybrid seeds during the wet season in non-AHMP areas. An additional 30,000 hectares in newly restored or repaired irrigation areas will be planted with such seeds.

* * *

TURNAROUND: Yap is looking for 92,000 more hectares for this year’s quick turnaround program using hybrid rice seeds. Carried out last year in Luzon farms hit by a dry spell, the QTA involves a third planting season to add 20 percent to the annual harvest.

He instructed managers of the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA) rice program to use aerobic and drought- and flood-tolerant varieties that the DA will start producing in the dry cropping season for distribution and for buffer stocking.

He said the DA will continue seed support, restore irrigation facilities and provide drying facilities for palay, while intensifying research and development (R&D) at PhilRice in coordination with International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and members of the national rice research and development networks.

More bagsakan or drop-off centers for farm goods will be opened in urban markets and barangay food terminals. This removes trading layers that add to the cost of basic foodstuff.