Palay farmgate price falls 33.5% in July

THE average farmgate price of palay (unmilled rice) fell 33.5% year on year in July to an average of P16.40 per kilo, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.

Month on month, the average palay farmgate price fell 3.5% compared to June, the PSA said in a report.

The July decline was steeper than the 31.8% year-on-year decline recorded in June.

In July 2024, the farmgate price averaged P24.68 per kilo.

None of the 15 rice-producing regions posted year-on-year growth in average farmgate prices last month.

The highest palay prices were posted in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) at P20.36, against the month-earlier P19.96 and the year-earlier P26.28.

The lowest palay prices were logged in Calabarzon at P11.15, with the farmgate price in the region falling 45% year on year and 10.9% month on month.

In Central Luzon, the average farmgate price was P13.26, down from P24.43 a year earlier and P14.51 a month earlier.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) said in a statement that palay prices had increased in some areas a week after President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. announced a two-month suspension of rice imports starting Sept. 1.

“Farmgate prices of palay have begun to rise in six of the 13 key rice-producing regions,” the DA said, citing the National Food Authority.

Traders’ buying prices for dry palay increased between 0.3% and 2.6% since late July in Central Luzon, Bicol, the Central Visayas, and parts of Mindanao, it said.

Average prices ranged from P16.98 per kilo in Central Luzon to P20.59 in Southern Mindanao. Prices held steady at P16.52 in Southern Tagalog and P17.60 in the Western Visayas.

But the DA said prices dropped sharply in Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Eastern Visayas, Northern Mindanao, and the Bangsamoro region, “with the lowest at P14.43 per kilo in Cagayan Valley and the highest at P21.67 in BARMM.”

Citing Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel, Jr. the DA said the government was “closely monitoring market reactions to the impending import ban,” which was ordered after reports showed palay prices dropping to as low as P8 per kilo, which was well below the estimated production cost of around P12 per kilo for the most efficient farmers.

“We are watching the market’s response to the rice import suspension very closely,” Mr. Laurel said.

“If palay prices remain low during the ban, we may consider extending it, or recommend that President Marcos increase tariffs. And if prices of palay rise, we could shorten the ban,” he added. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza