The country’s rice output this year could rise by 1.6 percent to a record high of nearly 13 million metric tons (MMT) on the back of favorable weather conditions and high farm-gate prices. Asia is expected to drive the global production expansion of 2018, harvesting a record 461.9 million tons, up 1.2 percent from 2017. Despite the record-high harvest, Manila’s rice imports this year would expand by half to 1.5 MMT, from 1 MMT a year ago, as the government seeks to beef up the National Food Authority’s (NFA) depleting stockpile and keep retail prices of the staple within affordable level.