As of July 1, the country had 2.4 to 2.5 million tonnes of rice stocks, exceeding the required 1.98 million to 2.0 million tonnes for the lean July to September period, he said. The country can source rice locally in the fourth quarter, a bumper period for rice harvest.

"Even in a worst case scenario of La Nina, we don't need to import," Tan said. The Philippine weather bureau has said the La Nina weather pattern, associated in Southeast Asia with heavy rains and floods, may persist until early next year and hold back the recovery of the agriculture sector. Total rice imports by government that have arrived this year have reached 780,000 tonnes. In recent months, the government gave private firms licences to import around 75,000 tonnes of rice.Traders had forecast Philippine rice imports this year to range from 800,000 to one million tonnes to cover the production shortfall.