Outgoing Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) Secretary Bernie Cruz on Friday maintained that the government can bring down the price of rice to P20 per kilo.
Incoming DAR Secretary Conrado Estrella III earlier said bringing down the price of rice to P20 per kilo is “difficult to attain” at this time.
But Estrella vowed to implement programs to achieve the goal of the incoming administration of President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Meanwhile, the Department of Agriculture (DA) proposed to increase rice buffer stocking from 7 to 30 days at the local government unit (LGU) level and prioritize the selling of affordable rice to vulnerable sectors.
The proposal forms part of a list of priorities in the agriculture sector for the first 100 days of the incoming administration as part of the agency’s transition document.
At a media briefing, Cruz said his successor must first hear their proposal to implement a “mega farm” project.
“It is viable. But as what he (Estrella) has said that a P27 per kilo or P28 per kilo is achievable, that would just be fine,” he told reporters.
Marcos Jr. earlier said he will lower the price of rice to P20 per kilo as one of his campaign promises, but Estrella said that price level was hard to attain due to the high prices of fuel products and fertilizers.
Cruz said Estrella must first see the agency’s studies on how to attain a lower rice price through the mega farm project.
Agriculture Secretary William Dar presented the list of priorities as he discussed updates on major DA programs amid the challenges confronting the Philippine agriculture sector during the Secretary of Agriculture’s Group of Experts (SAGE) meeting on Wednesday.
Among the priorities include a proposal for the National Food Authority (NFA) to rehabilitate rice milling centers and for state universities and colleges (SUCs) to distribute free vegetable seeds and other planting materials.
The list also involves a massive information dissemination drive on the proper utilization of organic fertilizer and the conduct of free soil testing; and the strengthening of collaboration between the DA and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).
The DA also proposed several legislative measures, including the creation of a Bureau of Agri-fishery Industrialization Cooperatives (BAIC); passage of the Livestock Development Competitiveness Act;
Certifying as an urgent bill creating the Department of Fishery and Oceans (DFO); and hastening the shift to renewable energy-based irrigation, mechanization, and agri-fishery production, and value-adding programs, among others.
National Scientist and SAGE chair Emil Javier said there are immediate requirements in a crisis situation, but the solutions must be informed by a long-term strategic framework.
“The new situation calls for a new paradigm and with NAFMIP, we are evolving towards food sovereignty,” Dar said.
He added that attaining food sovereignty calls for political will to implement the paradigm, giving topmost priority to agriculture, and a sizable budget for the agriculture sector.
He also welcomed the declarations of the incoming president to give topmost priority to agriculture and local food production.
“We have to evolve now. Thus, ensuring food security towards food sovereignty. As much as we could, we have to produce. But we need to always be guided that competitiveness is the name of the game to bring down the cost of production,” he said.