Manila says rice self-sufficiency at least 3 yrs away

MANILA, April 29 (Reuters) - The Philippines, the world's biggest importer of rice, will have to keep buying the national staple until at least 2011, an official said, as years of under-investment in farming hamper a programme to attain self-sufficiency.

The Southeast nation imports around 10 percent of its annual requirement, and has been badly exposed to record jumps in the price of its staple this year after exporter nations curbed shipments to keep a lid on domestic inflation.

"We can become self-sufficient in rice all right, but we may not achieve that goal until at least 2011. We will need a sustained programme on seeds and irrigation," Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said in an interview with a local radio station on Tuesday.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has repeatedly said that the Philippines will achieve self sufficiency in rice by 2010, when her final term ends, but Yap admitted that the government had failed to modernise the farming industry, making that goal impossible.

"The world entered a period when food was cheap, so we shifted our concentration to infrastructure. What is important is for us to refocus our strength," he said.

Unmilled rice output has been consistently expanding in the Philippines and is set to hit a record 17 million tonnes this year but the expansion is not keeping pace with rapid population growth of three babies born every minute in the staunchly Catholic country.

Some experts are doubtful the Philippines will ever achieve self-sufficiency in rice due to population growth and the lack of large river deltas. The last time it produced enough rice at home was 1994.

Arroyo recently unveiled a $1.05 billion master plan for food security that involves more funding for fertiliser, seeds, irrigation and better roads and post-harvest facilities.

The Philippines will hold a tender for 675,000 tonnes of rice next Monday, the third import tender in as many months. It has bought 1.6 million tonnes so far this year at a cost of $994 million but has struggled to attract all the volume it wants.

(Reporting by Carmel Crimmins; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)