The average farmgate price of paddy rice in the Philippines fell to a three-year low in May, based on data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Figures from the PSA showed that the average quotation of palay shrank by nearly 29 percent to P17.75 per kilo last month from last year’s P24.95 per kilo.
Historical data indicated that this was the lowest recorded farmgate price in the reference month since 2022, when it reached P17.24 per kilo.
On a monthly basis, the average quotation in May dipped by 1.6 percent from P18.04 per kilo recorded in April.
Calabarzon recorded the steepest decline in May, as average prices in the region fell by 38.6 percent year-on-year, based on PSA data.
The average palay farmgate prices in Calabarzon reached P14.02 per kilo in May, lower than the P22.84 per kilo in the same period last year.
This was followed by Cagayan Valley, which registered a 37-percent contraction to P16.11 per kilo last month from P25.57 per kilo in May 2024.
Industry sources lamented claims that some traders are purchasing palay at as low as P10 to P13 per kilo, lower than the production of P17 to P18 per kilo.
They urged the government to impose a palay floor price that would ensure farmers’ profitability amid the slump in farmgate prices of unmilled rice.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. earlier floated the possibility of implementing a floor price for palay.
He noted that the agency is looking for legal remedies that will allow it to implement the measure.
“The DA [Department of Agriculture] is seriously studying this, and we’re looking for legal avenues that would help us implement this measure if possible,” he added.
However, he noted that restoring some of the National Food Authority’s (NFA) regulatory functions would help the agency enforce the measure.
“Even if we have a floor price set, there’s no registry of traders. The NFA’s regulatory powers are really crucial,” the DA chief said.
Such functions include the need for retailers and traders to register with the NFA by law, since the agency is “blind” to who they are, he said.
“So, it’s like a cat-and-mouse game because by law it’s no longer required.”
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