THE Department of Agriculture (DA) signaled its openness to a proposal for a minimum buying price for palay (unmilled rice) to be set at P20 per kilogram.
Agriculture Assistant Secretary Arnel V. de Mesa, said the DA is open to and studying a floor price mechanism, and described the floor price of P20 per kilo for dry palay proposed by the Federation of Free Farmers (FFF) as reasonable.
The FFF on Monday said a minimum palay buying price will shield producers from “severe” drops in farmgate prices as domestic rice faces competition from imports.
Buying prices for freshly harvested palay have dropped to as little as P12-14 per kilo in parts of the country. “At this rate, many farmers will end up with losses, while more efficient producers will net only about P16,000 per hectare, or P2,700 per month for six months’ work,” the FFF said.
The FFF said the maximum suggested retail price for consumers should be accompanied by protections for farmers, calling for traders to be required to buy palay at a minimum price.
A floor price scheme is needed because the National Food Authority (NFA) can absorb only 4-5% of the harvests due to funding, storage and other constraints, the FFF said.
It said many farmers are forced to sell to private traders because they cannot comply with the NFA’s drying and quality standards.
The NFA’s buying price is P24 per kilo for dry and clean palay and at P18 per kilo for fresh palay, the DA said in mid-March.
The FFF said the floor price scheme could complement a proposed seasonal tariff arrangement, under which duties on rice imports are temporarily raised during the harvest and returned to normal afterwards.
Rice imports fell 46% year on year to 641,000 metric tons (MT) in the year to date ending March 13.
The DA said 96,260 MT of the shipments arrived in March, 267,114 in February, and 277,540 in January. The equivalent year-earlier volumes are 429,260 MT in January, 341,585 in February, and 415,764 in March.
In 2024, rice imports hit a record 4.68 million MT (MMT), against 3.6 MMT a year earlier. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza