Rice prices surge as production costs rise

July 2 ----- Despite having enough rice supply, retail prices of the country’s staple food in Metro Manila have jacked up by about P2 per kilogram as farmers face increased production costs.

In an interview, Agriculture Assistant Secretary Kristine Evangelista said the buying price of “palay” (unhusked rice) has reached P20 per kg while in other areas, it has surged to P23 per kg. “The price of some agricultural inputs has increased, so that will definitely affect their production cost,” said Evangelista. “What we’re trying to do now is also introduce other agricultural inputs to help our farmers to bring down their production cost,” she added.

In the Philippines, the rule of thumb is that the commercial price of rice is double the farm-gate price. The farm-gate price of palay refers to the selling price between farmers and traders, with the pricing largely dictated by farmers. As of Friday, locally produced rice is sold from P34 to P60 per kg, compared to P38 to P50 per kg a year ago, based on the Department of Agriculture’s (DA’s) price monitoring.

Imported rice is priced from P40 to P55 per kg, previously P37 to P50 per kg. Imported regular milled rice is not available in the markets.

Source: inquirer.net