The Philippines would at first briefly outpace its neighbors. This would not last as growth fell behind in the later years. Stagnation in the late 1920s and beyond took place as access to US markets became restricted by protectionist quotas and fiscal restraints forestalled any further development in agriculture. The growth period can be attributed to the results of a crash program in agricultural modernization undertaken in 1910–1920. This in turn was done in order to address the growing shortfall in the supply of rice. The Philippines once a net exporter became an importer of rice as a result of the wars with the Spanish and later the Americans and by the reallocation of labour to export crops. The 1930s would mark the end to this period of relative prosperity. The Sugar Act of 1934 capped Philippines sugar exports to the US at 921,000 tons per year. Expenditure on public infrastructure for agriculture was reduced as the Payne–Aldridge Act stripped the government of customs revenue. Manila hemp was now competing against the newly invented Nylon. Although the area of land cultivated for agriculture was still increasing, the rate was reduced to 1% per annum. The policy with the most far reaching consequences of this period was the peg between the peso and dollar. This was enforced by law until 1975. It provided monetary stability for foreign investment inflows, which lead to 40% of all capital invested in manufacturing and commercial enterprises to be owned by foreign entities by 1938. On the other hand, this overvaluation of the peso would have a negative impact with foreign trade with the rest of Asia. Economic policy leading to independence would have necessitated loosening trade links with the US. In order to achieve an internationally competitive exchange rate, the peso dollar link would have to be broken. The much belated move to a true floating exchange rate led to uncompetitive exports as such an import substitution strategy remained until significant currency devaluation opened up the opportunity for reorienting towards exports. Due to the Japanese invasion establishing the unofficial Second Philippine Republic, the economic growth receded and food shortages occurred. Prioritizing the shortages of food, Jose Laurel, the appointed President, organized an agency to distribute rice, even though most of the rice was confiscated by Japanese soldiers. Manila was one of the many places in the country that suffered from severe shortages, due mainly to a typhoon that struck the country in November 1943. The people were forced to cultivate private plots which produced root crops like kangkong. The Japanese, in order to raise rice production in the country, brought a quick-maturing horai rice, which was first used in Taiwan.