ILOILO – The provincial government is looking into the reported increase in the prices of rice. Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. received information that the per kilogram retail price of rice increased by about P4.
“Let us validate this price increase, kon ano ang iya gid ginahalinan, so that we will know kon ano ang aton response and we can work together with the Department of Agriculture (DA) on that,” said Defensor.
The provincial government has a local price council.
Defensor will also inspect markets to ask rice retailers and wholesalers about prices and supplies.
“Ang pagsaka sang presyo sang tanan nga bagay nga kinahanglanon may mga ginahalinan na sia — diin nagahalin ang pagsaka, diutay ang supply naton diri? That is one reason why at the national level we import rice. But let us examine first so that we will know kon ano ang aton interventions,” Defensor added.
After validation, the provincial government and the DA will design a response to cushion the effects of price increases, if there is any, on consumers.
Among the proposed responses is implementing a “level-up hybrid rice program” to improve farmers’ yield per hectare.
According to the Provincial Agriculture Office (PAO), each farmer has a 3.5-metric-ton per hectare yield. With the hybrid rice seed, this could increase to 5.5 metric tons.
Defensor believes that if rice production in the province is sufficient, the supply and prices will stabilize.
In the meantime, the provincial government continues to extend assistance to farmers through farm-to-market roads and small-scale irrigation programs, among others.
Earlier this week, farmers’ group Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. (PCAFI) said the retail price of rice will have a P4 per kilo increase until the mid-September palay harvest as the price of palay continues to rise.
“We expect that the retail prices of rice will go down once the harvest starts,” PCAFI president Danilo Fausto said.
The upward trend in the retail price of grains can be attributed to the high cost of imported rice, particularly in Vietnam, which supplies 90 percent of the Philippines’ rice imports, according to Fausto.
“Based on our feedback from rice importers, Vietnam does not honor the previous contracts even (though) traders already gave a down payment. Based on the data, imported rice from Vietnam is now at $540 per metric ton or about P30 to P32 per kilo. Early part of the year, it was only pegged between $420 and $440 per metric ton or about P23 to P24 per kilo landed cost,” he said.
Vietnam is taking advantage of India’s recent announcement banning the exportation of non-basmati white rice, he noted.
“When you look at the retail prices of imported rice compared to local rice in the market, imported rice is higher. With the expected shortage of rice in the world, Vietnam is taking advantage of the situation,” Fausto said.
Meanwhile, current rice buffer stocks can cover 30 to 45 days but the country would need 1.5 million to 1.7 million metric tons of rice to have sufficient supply for 45 to 60 days, Fausto added. (With a report from philstar.com)/PN
