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Twenty years ago, Juan Diego fought wealthy Philippine landowners and the government for the rights to a one-hectare (2.5-acre) rice paddy north of Manila. Now he's worried the Chinese may take his farm. Chinese companies last year agreed to lease 1.2 million hectares in the Philippines to grow rice, corn and sugar. While President Gloria Arroyo says the $5 billion deal will help increase food production for Filipinos, local farmers and lawmakers have stalled the deal.
China's Appetite for Filipino Paddies Breeds Farmer Opposition
Seeded on Sun Feb 24, 2008 4:35 PM EST
Article Source: Bloomberg.com- Enjoy this article? Help vote it up the 'Vine.
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China is looking for foreign farms because the nation can't feed its 1.3 billion people. The country lost an average of 1.23 million hectares of farmland annually during the 2000-2005 five- year plan, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported last April.
- 1 vote
#1 - Sun Feb 24, 2008 4:36 PM ESTThe Philippines is the world's biggest rice importer, buying 1.9 million tons last year, or 16 percent of its needs, U.S. Department of Agriculture statistics show. It also imported 2.35 million tons of wheat, virtually the entire amount consumed by the country's 91 million people.
At least, such arrangements would somehow bring the country back on the road to agriculture. My concern is more of China using unsafe chemical pesticides and fertilizers on Philippine soil.
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