THE Philippines, the world’s biggest rice importer, has agreed to import supplies to cover this year’s projected shortfall in domestic output, allaying local concerns stockpiles may not be adequate.

“All rice commitments for 2009 have already been taken care of” and imports may total about 1.5 million metric tons, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap told reporters yesterday after figures showed local output gains last year had missed targets. Yap didn’t say which countries would supply the grain.

At the same time, Yap said the country would import at least 300,000 metric tons of corn feed and 120,000 metric tons of wheat feed next month to ensure that prices of hog and poultry products remained stable.

“Several of our farmers have shifted to planting palay instead because the price of palay is good,” Yap said. “So now we have a supply mismatch and a gap of two to four weeks of corn production.

Yap said the National Food Authority would import 200,000 metric tons of the corn feed, while livestock farmers would import about half that volume.

Rice futures surged to a record last year, in part as the Philippines attempted to arrange overseas shipments to cover its shortfall. The country wants to become self-sufficient in the production of rice, the most important local foodstuff, and aims to expand acreage and irrigation to meet that goal by 2013.

Philippine rice output expanded 3.5 percent to 16.8 million tons in 2008, according to a statement yesterday from the Agriculture Department. That compares with the 4-percent gain to 16.9 million tons forecast by the government in November.

The country, which imported 2.3 million tons of rice last year, has been in talks with Thailand and Vietnam for 2009 shipments, Yap said on Dec. 19. The Philippines began government-level negotiations to buy the staple after the World Bank said its system of public tenders, which handled offers from companies, may have helped lift prices last year.

The auction system used by the country had sent signals last year that the nation really needed rice, World Bank Philippine Country Director Bert Hofman said then. That perception “probably distorts the market,” he said.

Rough rice for March delivery gained 0.8 percent to $13.62 per 100 pounds on the Chicago Board of Trade at 9:23 a.m. Singapore time. The contract touched a record $25.07 per 100 pounds last April amid concerns about a possible global shortage and as the Philippines prepared to buy imports.

Rice futures may jump again this year after farmers cut fertilizer use to curb costs and the global credit crunch reduced the volume of agricultural loans, Samarendu Mohanty, head of the social sciences division at the Laguna-based International Rice Research Institute said on Jan. 9. Joyce Pangco Pañares with Bloomberg