The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Monday said that farmers are benefitting from the surge in rice prices as global fears of a rice shortage forced the world market to tighten its supply.
“For the longest time, Filipino farmers have always been at the losing end of the rice sector. But now, Filipino rice farmers are enjoying better prices from their fresh harvest, perhaps sparked by global fears of a shortage resulting from the adverse impact of El Niño forcing world suppliers to tighten supply in the world market,” Agriculture Undersecretary Leo Sebastian said.
According to data from the DA National Rice Program, prices rose to P17.69 a kilo (for fresh) and P19.73 (for dry) in March 2023, compared to last year’s P15.99 for fresh and P18.41 for dry palay.
He added that in April 2023, the price of fresh palay was P17.66 per kilo and P20.38 for dry while in April 2022, the prices were P15.57 for fresh and P17.95 for dry.
Moreover, a price monitoring done by the Philippine Rice Information System showed that average dry palay prices were P19.5 per kilo for January to June 2023, compared to P18.3 per kilo from the same period last year.
Recently, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who is also the concurrent DA chief, said that the government is expecting lower rice prices as three major rice-producing provinces officially start their harvest to help stabilize the country’s supply
Sen. Francis Escudero on Monday meanwhile joined calls to abolish the National Food Authority (NFA) saying that “it’s useless anyway, so why not just abolish it.”
“I believe that what is really needed is to strengthen the power and capacity of the NFA to do its mandate,” he said.
With a measly funding of only P8.5 billion, Escudero also questioned how the NFA can procure enough palay from local farmers at a “higher price” and sell it at a “lower price” to consumers.
He warned there will be not enough supply without investing in agriculture to increase production and thereby provide food security for our country
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel added that if NFA is filling up its buffer stock with imported rice then it has “a lot of explaining to do.”
“And if the NFA really turns out to be an agency that cannot fulfill its role, then I am open to the idea of abolishing it,” he said.
In the meantime, he said the NFA should make sure that its stock especially its oldest stocks are still fit for human consumption. With Macon Ramos-Araneta