The Department of Agriculture is planning to release new rice varieties called “sulit rice” and “nutri rice,” which will be sold at lower prices as a “New Year offering” to Filipinos.
Agriculture Assistant Secretary Genevieve Guevarra said the sulit rice will be priced at P36 per kilo while the nutri rice will be available at P38 per kilo.
“That’s our planned New Year offering. We will introduce new varieties at the start of the year,” Guevarra said.
She described the nutri rice as “brownish,” while the sulit rice is white but “super broken.”
The new rice varieties, to be available starting 2025, will be in addition to the P40 per kilo price for mixed local and imported well-milled rice currently offered at Kadiwa stores.
Asked if further price cuts for rice at Kadiwa stores were possible, Guevarra said the government is “balancing” the situation, as such a move could have a “ripple effect” on farmers.
“It will also be frustrating for farmers if the price of rice drops too low,” she said.
The Kadiwa ng Pangulo’s (KNP) Rice for All program provides cheaper rice than prevailing market prices.
The DA is also planning to open more Kadiwa kiosks at major public markets nationwide, as well as at Metro Rail Transit and Light Rail Transit stations.
KNP kiosks operate in Kamuning Market, Malabon Central Market, New Las Piñas City Public Market, Pasay City Public Market, Guadalupe Market, MRT-North Avenue Station, and LRT-Monumento Station.
The DA is also considering new kiosks in the Balintawak (Cloverleaf) Market, Maypajo Public Market in Quezon City, Cartimar Market in Pasay City, Grace Market in Pateros, and Paco Market this month.
On Friday, the DA and the Department of Labor and Employment formalized a partnership to strengthen DOLE’s Integrated Livelihood Program (DILP), also known as the “Kabuhayan” program, and the DA’s Kadiwa Store project.
“With the intensified partnership between the DA and DOLE, through Kadiwa ng Pangulo stores, it will be further promoted to give DILP beneficiaries opportunities and to develop their livelihoods and meet the needs of their families,” Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma said.
The Kadiwa project increases small farmers’ incomes, expands market access for beneficiaries, and provides the urban poor with affordable, fresh agri-fishery products.
It also seeks to stabilize prices and ensure a steady supply of basic commodities.
