APARRI, CAGAYAN - Local farmers call for help as palay prices continuously drop from P18.04 the previous week now down to P 17.64 per kilo.
According to a local farmer, this is the only year palay price had dropped this low and it is affecting their livelihood especially in this time of pandemic.
[Narigat ta tatta paylang nga adda ti pandemya ket bimmaba ti presyo na, ken awan talaga sabali nga trabahu tatta nu haan agtalun lang, ta uray eta baybay ket ibawal da paylang gapu atuy pandemya,]
"It is really hard during this pandemic, we have no choice but to toil on farms, even fishing is restricted because of quarantine protocols" Jimmy Albeyas, farmer from Paddaya, Aparri said. “This is why we urge the government for consideration, we have children who are studying. It is even us who plant food to eat have nothing to eat now. P17 is a big loss for us, we will not have enough for the next planting season.”
[Isu garud nga ikkan dakami kuna ‘ti konsiderasyon ti gobyerno, adda pay dagituy annak mi nga pagbasbasaen mi. Sikamintu pay nga agmulmula ti makan ti awan kanen nan, eta P17 nga presyo ket malugi kami talaga, haan talaga nga mabalin ta baka awan tu pay gastusen mi nu sumarunu nga pinagmumula manen]
Albeyas also said that he will not sell his palay yet, hoping that palay prices will rise again. The cost to produce rice in the country is still about P12/kg due to the lack of machinery and relatively high fuel cost.
[Nu haan talaga nga ngumatu ket lugi talaga, ta bayad paylang ti pinagpa-reaper ket nanginan, suweldo ti nagtrabahu- nagsikka ken nagmula, ken gastos mi pay para abono, malugi kami, awan mabati kinyamin, ipangatu da kuma uray bassit lang]
“If the prices continue to drop, we wont have enough to survive. Machinery, labor and fertilizer costs are going up as well. I hope they will act on making the prices go a little bit higher.” he said.
However, despite farmers' call for help, Senator Cynthia Villar insists that P 17 is the regular price for palay.
"Kumikita na sila ng 5 pesos per kilo, I think 17 is really the regular of the regular price, it's too much to ask na maging 21, 20," Villar said.
According to the Federation of Free Farmers (FFF), the implementation of Rice Tariffication Law (RTL), which allowed unlimited rice importation in the country starting last year should blamed for the plunge of palay prices.
FFF expected the prices to go down even more when harvests reach their peak in October and November.
“Many traders are playing safe and buying low because imports might flood the market again like last year and make it unprofitable for them to dispose of their stocks. Other traders have decided not to take risks and have reportedly stopped buying for the meantime,” FFF National Manager Raul Montemayor said.
Meanwhile, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto on Monday called on the Department of Agriculture (DA) to investigate the alarming drop in the buying price of locally grown rice.
He urged the department check if the plunging farmgate price of palay was really an adverse effect of the rice tariffication law, which opened the country to imported rice from Vietnam and Thailand where rice production is usually cheaper due to government subsidies and mechanization.
Citing the government’s study of rice production in 2018, Recto said a farmer would earn an average of P33,355 per hectare if rice was sold at P20.40 a kilo.
The Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura have been banging calling the government’s attention for allegedly favoring rice imports more than local supply, which is causing the price landslide.
Between January and September this year, the Bureau of Plant Industry issued import certificates for 3.75 million MT of rice, although often, not all these would be used by traders and importers.
