DA: ‘Large-scale’ trial of P29/kilo rice for vulnerable sectors to launch July 5

The Department of Agriculture (DA) is set to launch a mass trial of the P29 per kilo rice program on July 5 at 10 locations in Metro Manila and Bulacan and is aimed at providing affordable rice to vulnerable sectors.

At a press conference in Quezon City on Thursday, DA Assistant Secretary Genevieve Guevarra announced that the “large-scale” trial of selling aging National Food Authority (NFA) buffer rice stock will be done simultaneously in 10 Kadiwa sites.

The 10 Kadiwa sites are located in the offices of the Bureau of Animal Industry and National Irrigation Administration in Quezon City, Bureau of Plant Industry in Manila, Food Terminal Inc. in Taguig City, Philippine Fiber Industry Development Authority (PhilFIDA) in Las Piñas; and in Kadiwa centers in Barangay 167 in Caloocan City, Disiplina Village in Valenzuela City, Brgy. Fortune and BF City (BFCT) in Marikina City, and Barangay Minuyan Proper in San Jose del Monte City, Bulacan.

“We will be selling P29 [per kilo] rice to select beneficiaries such as members of the 4Ps, senior citizens, PWDs, and solo parents,” said Guevarra.

“We have set the limit to 10 kilos a month per household… in increments of five kilos per sale,” she said.

The DA official said the Agriculture Department allocated an initial 300 sacks for each site per week for the mass trial.

The large-scale launch of the P29 per kilo rice available for sale to vulnerable sectors came weeks after the DA initially made available the subsidized rice in some Kadiwa sites such as in the offices of BAI, BPI, PhilFIDA, and Agribusiness Development Center (ADC).

“This large-scale trial aims to gather comprehensive data on supply, demand, and logistics, essential for the smooth nationwide rollout of the program,” said Guevarra.

She said that during the data gathering phase in preparation for nationwide rollout of the program, Kadiwa sites in cooperation with farmers cooperatives and associations (FCAs) as well as local government units will prepare booklets to monitor rice purchases of beneficiaries to ensure that the program will not be “prone to abuse.”

In a statement, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said, “We appeal to beneficiaries not to take advantage of this program by reselling the P29 rice from Kadiwa centers.”

“We want to ensure that the largest number of those in the vulnerable sectors will benefit from this program of President Bongbong Marcos,” said the Agriculture chief.

Guevarra said those qualified to avail the P29 rice should bring identification cards and reusable containers or bags to minimize plastic usage.

For the eventual full implementation of the P29 per kilo rice for the vulnerable sector, DA spokesperson and Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said the initial mass trial could run for the “next six months.”

De Mesa said the nationwide full implementation of the program could run until the end of the Marcos administration.

Guevarra said the full implementation of the P29 program will require approximately 69,000 metric tons of rice, to provide 10 kilos of rice per month at P29 per kilo to the targeted 6.9 million vulnerable households. 

Rice supplies will come from various sources, including the National Food Authority, the National Irrigation Administration's rice contract growing project, and potential imports managed by DA-affiliated entities.

By August, the DA is expecting the number of participating Kadiwa centers selling P29 per kilo rice to double.

Meanwhile, de Mesa said, apart from the P29 program, the DA is also planning to sell in Kadiwa centers rice that are priced lower compared to market in a program tentatively called “Rice-for-All."  —RF, GMA Integrated News