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RICE watch group Bantay Bigas called on the government to impose a floor price of P21 per kilo for paddy rice.

According to Bantay Bigas spokesperson Cathy Estavillo, the floor price would ensure that planters will earn at a fair price amid claims that some traders are purchasing palay at unreasonably low prices.

“[A floor price] should be set at no less than P21 per kilo,” Estavillo told the BusinessMirror.

“The cost to produce a kilo of palay ranges from P17 to P18 per kilo according to farmers and based on [our] research, yet it’s being bought at P13 or even P10 per kilo,” she added.

Estavillo then urged the National Food Authority (NFA) to purchase more palay from farmers.

“[The NFA] needs to buy the rice from our farmers at a high price because we can’t expect anything if we rely on traders and millers to buy our farmers’ rice,” she said.

For his part, NFA Administrator Larry Lacson said the grains agency would send its staff to investigate the cases of alleged purchasing of palay at low prices.

“Whenever we can, we go to the farmer. We are also rushing the warehouse repairs so we can accommodate them,” Lacson told this newspaper.

Under the NFA’s price range scheme (PRICERS), it buys clean and dry palay at P23 to P30 per kilo, while the price of fresh and wet palay ranges from P17 to P23 per kilo.

NFA powers

Meanwhile, Estavillo also sought for the amendment—if not the revocation—of the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL) that would allow the NFA to intervene in the market.

“Our call to repeal [the RTL] remains,” she said. “But if it is amended, it [should] restore the NFA’s mandate to subsidize the price of rice [and sell it] not just in Kadiwa centers but also in markets.”

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. earlier hinted at implementing a floor price for palay to protect local farmers from being underpaid.

He noted that the agency is looking for legal remedies that will allow it to implement the measure.

“The DA is seriously studying this, and we’re looking for legal avenues that would help us implement this measure if possible,” Laurel said.

However, the DA chief said restoring some of the NFA’s 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,” Laurel 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, according to the DA chief.

“So it’s like a cat-and-mouse game because by law it’s no longer required.”

Source : businessmirror