MANILA – Agriculture secretary Manny Piñol on Sunday said the buying price of dry palay is currently P17.70 per kilo. However, farmers will get P3 more under the government’s buffer stock incentive program.
“Bibili tayo ng maraming local production to protect farmers [amid the importation of rice]… From P17.70 magdadagdag tayo ng P3,” the Agriculture secretary said in an interview on Super Radyo dzBB.
Piñol also clarified that the National Food Authority will buy palay even if it is not thoroughly dry, although at a price slightly lower than P17.70. The P3 will still be on top of the buying price of wet palay.
He said P6.7 billion was allocated by the NFA to buy dry palay at P17 per kilo.
Farmers belonging to cooperatives and associations may also benefit from additional incentives from the Department of Agriculture, such as fertilizers, seedlings, and farm supplies, the Agriculture secretary said.
Rice importation
Piñol said the NFA Council will meet on Tuesday to discuss guidelines on the importation of rice.
President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the implementation of unlimited rice importation to address the unabated price increases in rice and basic commodities amid the nine-year high inflation rate of 6.7 percent, then presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said on Oct. 9.
Duterte on Friday stressed the need to augment the country’s rice supply through importation as he maintained that the Philippines will never achieve sufficiency of the staple because of shrinking farmlands.
Piñol also said the Department of Trade and Industry will partner with the private sector in importing rice, which will then be sold at not more than P38 per kilo under its Presyo Resonable Dapat program.
This has been approved by the NFA Council, he said.
Meanwhile, Piñol warned rice hoarders that they will lose their licenses if they do not sell rice. (GMA News)
