Philippines plans US$1.7bil spending to cut farm losses

MANILA (Bloomberg): The Philippines, the world’s top importer of rice, plans to spend 93 billion pesos (US$1.7 billion) to build more storage and other facilities to boost food production and cut prices.

The government will build facilities that will minimize post-harvest losses and lessen dependence on imports, the Department of Agriculture said in a statement on Tuesday. It aims to increase rice and corn inventory by 23 days.