NEW Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. started off on the right foot in his highly challenging journey as head of the Department of Agriculture (DA).
In his initial press conference last Monday, Laurel said that President Bongbong Marcos’ campaign promise to bring down the price of rice to P20 per kilo is “not possible” yet due to spikes in global market pricing.
“Today, it is not possible, but with the directive of the President to modernize, irrigate and use right seeds, mechanize… We are getting ready to do our best to try and make rice affordable,” Laurel said.
Saying it as it is, without embellishment or the cavalier style of Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno, Laurel is correct in saying that the P20 per kilo price of rice is only an aspiration — in other words, a lofty goal.
The newly-appointed DA chief explained that the price of the grain is now in a 15-year high in the world market. The previous $230 per ton from Vietnam is at $700 per ton today.
‘Several farm experts have pointed out that our agriculture program is very rice-centric, when in fact we have good potential in growth in high-value crops.’
Secretary Laurel is not even sure whether the P20 per kilo price of rice will be achieved during the Marcos administration, stressing that price movement is dictated by global events.
Laurel explained what many of us have been aware of all along: “The problem now of the world is it’s so complicated. There’s climate change, El Niño is now here, and it will continue until the middle of next year. Anything can happen. We also don’t know if war will break out in another part of the world. We don’t know if another ship will block the Suez Canal. It is possible to lower the price, but we need to have our silos, we have to have buffer stock and we have to change some laws, I believe,” he said.
Like all aggie secretaries before him, Francisco Tiu Laurel believes that the government’s thrust to modernize the country’s agricultural sector will help in making the price of rice in the country more affordable. If we cannot lower it to the fantastic price of P20 per kilo, at least they should make the prices of the staple grain affordable to the poor.
For the purpose of comparison, the current prices for local well-milled rice are between P45 to P53 per kilo while regular milled rice is at P41 to P45 per kilo. The price of imported well-milled rice is at P45 to P48 per kilo.
Imported rice ranges from P55 to P60 per kilo for the special variety and P47 to P58 for premium. For local rice, the special variety costs P50 to P65 per kilo and premium, P50 to P60 per kilo.
It is reassuring to note that the marching order of President Marcos to Laurel is to increase production in almost all sectors of agriculture, all commodities, but with special emphasis on rice. He talked about modernizing irrigation, the use of the correct type of fertilizers and the planting of the right type of seeds.
Several farm experts have pointed out that our agriculture program is very rice-centric, when in fact we have good potential in growth in high-value crops.
Perhaps the new DA head will also put in efforts, research, and funds in developing crops such as coconut, sugar, durian, mango, banana and others which will boost the country’s revenues from exports.
