ABSTRACT
With over four million hectares of arable land devoted to rice production and with an annual total harvest of 18,032,400 (palay1) metric tons, the Philippines is known to be the eighth largest producer of rice in the world (Global Rice Science Partnership 2013: 33). Though rice has become a staple food in everyday Philippine diets today, it was not always widely accessible. In precolonial times, rice was considered to be a ‘prestigious and highly valued food’ and was often used as tributes or gifts for royalty (Aguilar 2005: 2). Over time, as social and economic systems evolved, rice became more available, accessible and central to Filipino food culture. During the 1980s and 1990s, the annual per capita consumption of rice was estimated to be between 90 to 92 kg. Around two decades later, consumption has increased to 111 kg per person (Lantican et al. 2013: 11). While the Philippines is one of the top ten rice producers, it is also a rice importer with around 20 percent of its local consumption supplied by imported rice (Wailes and Chavez 2012: 9). Rice imports have increased in the past ten years, brought about by a growing population and rising income levels (Department of Agriculture 2012: 2).
