Rice supply stable until Q1 of 2024
By J.Lo
"Farmers are happy that their rice is purchased at higher price," Department of Agriculture (DA) spokesman Arnel de Mesa said in interview country's rice supply will be stable over holidays and until first quarter of 2024 following ongoing harvest season and previous imports.
He noted t prices have gone down to around P41 to P45 per kilo for well-milled rice and down to P38 to P39 per kilo for regular milled rice in some provinces.
De Mesa said current farmgate prices set by National Food Authority (NFA), range between P22.50 per kilo for dry palay and around P18 for wet palay, are advantageous to farmers.
As for buffer stock, De Mesa said country has 94 days in its national stock inventory following strong harvest season this month and almost 2.8 million metric tons of rice imported in first half of the year.
"We need to maintain our buffer stock… NFA is purchasing locally…they are not allowed to import... should maintain at least 300,000 to 350,000 MT of stock as per rice tariffication," De Mesa said.
He reiterated no need to reimpose rice price ceiling.
No comments:
Post a Comment