Bringing down the price of rice to P20 per kilo is “difficult to attain” at this time, incoming Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado Estrella III said Thursday.
But Estrella vowed to implement programs to achieve the goal of the incoming administration of President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to cut the price of rice in local markets, which currently sell for over twice as much.
“The President is so realistic about it. He said this is our aspiration that we are going to lower the price of rice and I think it will be possible, but if you do serious pencil pushing, if you study it, the P20 per kilo of rice is difficult to attain right now,” Estrella said in an interview with reporters.
Latest data available from the Department of Agriculture show the average prices of rice at P38.00 to P50.00 per kilogram for local, and from P37.00 to P52.00 per kilogram for imports as of June 6.
The National Food Authority currently sells rice at P23 (wholesale) to P27 (consumer) per kilo, but stocks quickly run out at its warehouses or authorized retail outlets.
Meanwhile, the Agriculture department on Thursday said it is preparing for a possible hike in the price of imported rice, and said the Philippines needs to have “food sovereignty” amid lingering crises.
Agriculture Secretary William Dar said Vietnam and Thailand might “coalesce” and raise the price of their rice exports, which could lead to a P6 per kilo increase in the price of imported rice.
“There are two strategies there in the potential P6 (increase): we will broaden our sourcing not only in Vietnam and Thailand, but India and other potential sources so there is great (price) competition,” said Dar in a public briefing.
“The second strategy is to sustain, if not increase, our local rice production,” he added.
Estrella cited the high price of fuel products and fertilizers as reasons why cheaper rice is not possible right now.
“Considering the price of oil now, then the price of fertilizer, (it’s difficult). But if it’s just a little closer, a little higher there, we can reach it,” he said.
“I want to be realistic. I don’t want to window dress… What I’m saying is if we can peg it at a little higher price or at a price nearer to P20, we can do that,” the former Abono party-list representative added.
When asked about an attainable price of rice, Estrella said it could be at P27 or P28 per kilo, noting that the P20 per kilo needs further study.
During his presidential campaign, Marcos Jr. said he would recommend a price cap on rice to bring down its prices to as low as P20 per kilogram.
He said that this campaign promise is an “aspiration,” noting there is a need to fix the value chain of rice to attain that.
The value chain is the series of stages involved in producing a product or service that is sold to consumers, with each state adding to the value of the product or service.
Outgoing Agrarian Reform Secretary Bernie Cruz had proposed the consolidation of rice production through “mega farms” to lower the price to P20 per kilo.
He said it would be possible to achieve the target price should the incoming administration look into merging the production of small farms.
Dar previously said bringing the retail price of rice to P20 per kilo could be realized, but it would be a huge challenge to accomplish.
“Number one challenge [is] we have to target much higher [yields],” he said, noting that the yield for inbred rice can be increased to 7.5 metric tons (MT) per hectare from 4.5 MT per hectare in the next four years.
For hybrid rice, the yield can be targeted to 10 MT per hectare from the current 6 MT per hectare.
“The challenge is huge, but with this political will that we have and prioritization given to agriculture, these challenges can be addressed,” Dar said.
The outgoing Agriculture secretary said increasing rice production yields, coupled with additional investment in building post-harvest facilities for drying, milling, and warehousing can bring down the price of rice.
Dar said the Marcos Jr. administration should look into a “Build, Build, Build” program for irrigation, as 1.1 million hectares of agricultural lands still need irrigation systems developed for long-term sustainability.
He said the biggest challenge for now is the increasing production cost due to rising fuel and fertilizers amid the global supply disruptions caused by the Ukraine-Russia war.
The Philippines’ agriculture chief also said he hopes agencies affiliated with the United Nations will “influence” these countries to cushion the impact of their decision.
“The best strategy is to enhance our local rice production,” he said.
“We have to look at import substitution in a big way. This is the time na food sovereignty has to be now our overarching goal so with the available resources, significant budgetary resources, we can increase the level of our local food production.”
The official raised the importance of the continuity of the “Plant, Plant, Plant” program in the next administration that seeks to boost agricultural yields. He also cited the importance of using both local and imported fertilizers and managing them for farmers amid the fertilizer shortage.
