MANILA, Philippines – A farmers’ group is urging the Philippine government to impose a minimum buying price for palay to help farmers suffering from “severe drops” in farmgate prices.
Leonardo Montemayor, chairman of Federation of Free Farmers and former agriculture secretary, said buying prices of freshly harvested palay dropped at P12 to P14 per kilo.
“If the government has imposed a maximum suggested retail price or MSRP for consumers, it should also protect farmers by requiring traders to buy palay from them at a minimum price,” Montemayor said Thursday, April 10.
Montemayor explained a floor price will protect farmers across the board, as the National Food Authority (NFA) can only buy so much due to constraints in funding and storage. The NFA recently raised its buying price of palay from a range of P16 to P23 per kilo to P17 to P30.
DA spokesman Arnel de Mesa said the agency is already studying the placement of a floor price for palay.
“Nasa discussion points na ‘yan ng DA (That’s one of the DA’s discussion points),” De Mesa told reporters Thursday. “Open ang DA (The DA is open),” he added.
The spokesman said the average cost to produce one kilogram of palay is at P13.50, citing data from the Philippine Rice Research Institute. He said that the cost of palay production ranges from P11.2 to P18 in Nueva Ecija, a disparity that affects farmgate prices.
De Mesa concurred that a P20-floor price for a kilo of dry palay is reasonable.
As of February 2025, average farmgate prices of palay nationwide is at P20.68, according to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority. – Rappler.com