A FILIPINO FARMER USES A WATER BUFFALO TO PLOUGH A RICE PADDY, 1999-04-26 (photo)

A Filipino farmer, who suffered the brunt of El Nino's dry spell in the first half of 1998, uses a water buffalo to plough a paddy for rice planting in Sorsogon in Bicol province, southeast of the Philippine capital April 24. The Department of Agriculture said it expected the country's unmilled rice output to grow 47.3 percent year-on-year to 5.2 million tonnes in the first half due to good weather in the last quarter of 1998 and the first quarter of 1999. Officials and traders said they expected Philippine rice imports to drop to 650,000 tonnes this year from a record 2.2 million in 1998. EDC/JBP/TAN