The Department of Agriculture (DA) said further measures will be taken to continue reducing rice retail prices next year, having sought the cooperation of local government units (LGUs) to bring prices down to P40 per kilogram.
“The cooperation of all LGUs is crucial to the broader plan of rolling out the P40 per kg rice in 1,500 outlets nationwide, or one per municipality,” DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said in a briefing in Makati City on Monday night.
Tiu Laurel said depending on available funding, the DA may lower the price of rice even further to P38 to P39 per kg.
The DA is also open to the idea of introducing more lower priced rice varieties called Sulit Rice and Nutri Rice at P35 to P37 per kg, Tiu Laurel said.
“Bringing down the price of regular milled rice is (one of the) biggest challenges of the government,” Tiu Laurel said.
Based on DA’s monitoring of public markets in the National Capital Region, the price as of last Saturday of regular milled ranges from P40 to P48 per kg.
Tiu Laurel said the DA will be adding more Kadiwa outlets selling the staple food grain under the Rice for All program at P40 per kg.
Rice for All outlets can be found in 10 public markets and four train stations.
“Public reception in markets for consumers (has been) good,” Tiu Laurel said.
The DA said the P40-per kg rice can compete with rice sold at the much higher price of P48 to P52 per kg by some tenants.
Some public markets in Quezon City, Pasay, Caloocan, Manila, Paranaque, Las Pinas, Malabon and Makati have expressed willingness to carry the affordable rice, the DA said.
However, the DA added that the LGUs of San Juan, Pasig, Taguig, Pateros, Mandaluyong and Muntinlupa are yet to agree to introducing the “Rice for All” program in their public markets.
Sulit Rice, which is 100 percent broken, comes from “good varieties of rice and can be sold at P35 to P36 per kg.”
While Sulit Rice is currently from imports, Tiu Laurel said it can also be locally sourced if a sustainable supplier is available.
Meanwhile, Tiu Laurel said the Nutri Rice will be priced at P36 to P37 per kg.
“Nutri Rice is basically from our own farmers. The regular rice that we buy today undergo three-pass milling where you lose a lot of minerals, nutrients and fiber. Nutri Rice will only undergo one-pass milling to retain nutrients. Rice recovery for three-pass is 63 percent while for one-pass, recovery is 78 percent so you produce more rice with the same amount of palay so its cheaper,” Tiu Laurel said.
Based on DA’s monitoring of public markets in the National Capital Region, the price as of last Saturday of local well-milled rice is between P40 to P52 per kg and regular milled, P40 to P48 per kg.
The price of imported well milled rice is at P40 to P54 per kg, while the price range of imported regular milled rice is at P44 to P45 per kg.
Imported rice ranges from P54 to P64 for the special variety and P51 to P62 for premium.
For local rice, the special variety costs P55 to P63 per kg and premium, P50 to P58 per kg.
