Consumers in Calasiao, Pangasinan, are seeing lower price of rice, with well-milled rice now costing P2 less per kilo due to a drop in farmgate prices and an abundant supply.

Buboy Daz, a resident, bought only one kilo of rice at the Calasiao Public Market but hopes to buy more soon.

“’Pag nagkaroon ng budget, bili ako ng 10 kilos ulit. Aabot sa higit sampung araw ‘yun,” he said.

Here are the current price of rice in Pangasinan:

• Well-milled rice: P45 per kilo (previously P47)
• Premium rice: P52 per kilo (previously P54)

The Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) attributes the price drop to the lower farmgate price of palay, which fell to P17 per kilo.

“Farmgate price ng palay, bumaba sa P17. ‘Yung presyo ng milled rice, bumaba rin,” SINAG Chairman Engr. Rosendo So said.

Rice retailers in Pangasinan said milling prices have also decreased, with millers now selling rice to retailers at P37 per kilo. It was P42 per kilo previously.

Retailers said prices may drop further in the coming weeks because of the steady supply of rice from various provinces.

“Meron dito [sa Pangasinan na supplier]... may [galing] Cagayan, [at] may [galing] Nueva Ecija po,” Vilma Lopez, a rice retailer, said.