SURREALITY OF RICE, IRRI, AND DEATH BY MUSKETRY: The top 3 producers of rice for 2013 in South East Asia (SEA) are (1) Indonesia, (2) Vietnam and (3) Thailand. The Philippines falling to fourth and even resorting to importions just to subsidize its bumper stock for local consumption. Our country has been relegated outside the top 3 rice producers of SEA for so many decades now. The irony of it all is that the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), an international independent research and training organization established to develop new rice varieties and rice crop management techniques, has its headquarters in Los Baños, Laguna since 1960 and adjacent to UPLB (it offers BS Agriculture courses since its establishment). So what happened from 1960 to present? Did the government for more than 5 decades failed to take full advantage of the opportunity of our country hosting the IRRI since 1960? Or is it an ongoing meditated neglect by our government for more than 5 decades so as to intentionally retard our countrys rice crop technology and resort to annual rice importations and for what? The only reasons I can think of are Rice Importation Quotas and Rice Smuggling that translates into losses of billions of pesos for the government and for our poor farmers. Economic Sabotage is a high crime and I can only think of Death by Musketry as repayment and deterrent.
Posted on: Thu, 30 Jan 2014 03:56:10 +0000