Philippine Rice Crops Hit by Flooding, Rains, Government Says

By Luzi Ann Javier

Jan. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Heavy rains and flooding affected some key rice producing areas in the Philippines, threatening to curb output in the world’s biggest importer of the cereal.

Over 8,000 hectares of land planted with rice was damaged in the major rice growing province of Camarines Sur, and another 237 hectares were flooded in Surigao del Norte province, Tess Bernardo, who overseas crop damage reports at the Department of Agriculture, said by phone from Manila today.

A smaller crop may prompt the government to boost imports this year to bolster domestic supplies and curb price increases in the fifth-smallest of 17 Asia Pacific economies tracked by Bloomberg. Philippine imports gained by more than a fifth to 2.3 million tons in 2008, from 1.9 million tons a year earlier, as the government replenished stockpiles to help cool prices.

The assessment is likely to worsen as reports from other provinces isolated by flooding are relayed to the national office, Bernardo said. “Some of our field offices have yet to report because roads are unpassable,” she said.

Monsoon rains are expected to persist through Jan. 16, causing more flashfloods and landslides in Eastern Visayas and Eastern Mindanao, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said on its Web site.

To contact the reporter for this story: Luzi Ann Javier in Singapore at ljavier@bloomberg.net