May 11, 2024 - The Department of Agriculture (DA) announced on Friday that it is planning to sell government-subsidized rice at PHP29 per kilogram starting in August. The announcement was made during the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon by Agriculture Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa.
De Mesa highlighted that the initiative to sell cheaper rice was previously implemented through the National Irrigation Administration (NIA)'s contract farming with farmers cooperatives and associations. “That’s possible, of course, there will be a subsidy from the government, we’ve already done that before in some areas,” he said.
The assistant secretary explained that this was achieved through a reduction in production cost, which includes the provision of free seedlings, fertilizers, free irrigation service fees, and machinery from the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech), among others.
The program is expected to be rolled out in coordination with the National Food Authority (NFA), once the proposed amendments in the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL) are finalized. “That’s what we are studying and working on, hopefully by August, especially if the proposed amendments are passed,” De Mesa said.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has already certified the proposed amendment in the RTL as urgent. “This will greatly help in stabilizing the rice prices in the market,” he added.
However, the proposed amendments for NFA rice sale are limited to government agencies or entities authorized to handle the sale of rice; retail outlets of organized women’s groups or cooperatives duly registered by CDA and DA-accredited; outlets run by consumer groups and similar associations duly registered with Securities and Exchange Commission and DA-accredited; and in Kadiwa stores.
As of now, the NFA’s mandate is limited to securing rice for national buffer stocking.