SPEAKER Feliciano Belmonte today urged the different sectors of the food industry to rally behind President Benigno Aquino’s food production program for the country.
The Speaker said the task of developing the food industry does not belong to the government alone but to members of the private sectors as well.
Realizing the important role played by the food sector in the economy, Belmonte said there should be a much closer working relationship between the government and the various sectors of the food industry.
“Together we can endeavor to build confidence and self-sufficiency for ourselves and for our families,” the Speaker said.
Belmonte said the country’s food industry has not been developed to the level of maximum output. “There are still many areas in the country which have to be developed and tapped not only by the government, but also by those in the private sectors,” he said.
According to Belmonte, there are still thousands of hectares of virgin lands that can be turned into verdant rice fields.
“Should we succeed in this, there may come a time when we will no longer have to spend millions of pesos on rice importation,” Belmonte said.
“For the past 20 years, the amount of money we have been spending for rice importation has been staggering. We spent about P27 billion on rice import alone,” the Speaker said.
Belmonte also said the Philippines could achieve self-sufficiency in rice production through the planting of hybrid rice seed if the government could infuse the much-needed capital to its hybrid rice program.