MANILA – The Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) on Monday called on the Department of Agriculture (DA) to buy palay or unmilled rice from local farmers, citing the low farmgate prices due to the increase in imports of the commodity.
SINAG said farmgate prices of palay have plunged to P10 to P13 per kilogram, way below the production cost of P15 per kilogram.
“Ang DA mismo, kasama ang NEDA (National Economic and Development Authority) at ng buong economic team ng Malacañang, sila ang dapat bumili ng palay ng magsasaka sa tamang presyo ng P19 per kilogram (dry) at P16 (fresh harvest),” the e-mailed statement read.
The DA, along with NEDA, and other economic managers, pushed for the rice competitiveness, which was signed into law by President Rodrigo Duterte in February 2019.
The measure effectively removed the quantitative restrictions on rice and imposed a 35 percent tariff on imports from neighbors in Southeast Asia.
With the law, SINAG cited the difficulty of local millers or traders to buy fresh harvest palay at P16 per kilogram or P19 per kilogram for dry. This would translate to an operating cost of P32 per kilogram versus P23 per kilogram landed cost for imported rice.
“Hindi naman pwede ang sagot lang ng DA ay ipaubaya na lang nila sa local government units ang pagbili ng palay,” SINAG said.
“Alam naman ng lahat na wala nang pondo ang local government units dahil sa pagbigay ng ayuda sa gitna ng COVID,” it added.(GMA News)
