DA: P42 per kilo rice enough to address consumer, farmers' needs

The P42 per kilo price of well-milled rice provides a “happy balance” between the needed income of farmers and affordability sought by consumers, the Department of Agriculture said Monday.

“I think well-milled rice around the P42 per kilo will provide a happy balance between our goal of ensuring our farmers get a decent return for their hard work and consumers have access to affordably-price food, especially rice,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said in a statement.

“While we aim to drive down food costs, we are also mindful of the needs of our primary stakeholders—our farmers and their families, who work tirelessly in the fields but have not fully reaped the benefits of their labor,” he added.

DA noted the retail prices of well-milled rice in the Philippines are more affordable compared to Thailand and China, which are also rice-producing countries.

Based on its monitoring last week, DA said the per kilo price of well-milled rice in the country ranges from P45 to P52.

According to the DA, the per kilo cost of rice in Thailand is P51.95 to P132.7 while the price of the same quality rice in China ranges from P44.47 and P88.86. 

In some rice-producing countries, traders consider the anticipation of a decline in retail prices to reduce palay prices.

Laurel said DA evaluates the movement of rice in the international market and the movement of the peso’s exchange rate

According to DA, while global prices of rice have decreased to below $500 per ton in October from more than $630 per ton in January, the peso over the same 10-month period has sharply depreciated from P48 to P58 against the US dollar.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. earlier said the country would import 4.5 million tons of rice amid the onslaught of typhoons, where the agricultural sector was affected.

Marcos has also ordered DA and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to expand the Rice-for-All and P29 per kilo rice programs under the Kadiwa ng Pangulo Program to “bring affordable rice within reach for more communities across the country.”
—Mariel Celine Serquiña/RF, GMA Integrated News