By Bernie Cahiles-Magkilat

The buying price of locally produced palay have recently reached an unprecedented level of P29 per kilo — with rice imports failing to serve its purpose, which is to temper the cost of commercial rice being sold in the local market.

On Friday, the Department of Agriculture (DA) had a closed-door meeting with rice stakeholders as the price of commercial rice rose by P1 to P2 per kilo, which was triggered by the all-time high increase in the price of palay.

Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said while the increase in the buying price of palay is good for farmers, it will have an adverse effect for consumers.

He said stakeholders blamed the increase to the delay in the arrival of imported rice, with some retailers already completely running out of affordable, subsidized rice from the National Food Authority (NFA).

Stakeholders, however, denied that there is hoarding of rice supply.

During the fourth week of July, farmgate price of palay picks up after previous week’s decline, according to Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

To be specific, the average farmgate price of palay went up by 1.02 percent to P21.81 per kilogram (kg) from previous week’s level of P21.59 per kg. This was also higher by 11.79 percent from the level a year ago at P19.51 per kg.

Meanwhile, upward adjustments are still noted for both wholesale and retail prices of well milled rice.

At the wholesale trade, the average price of well milled rice at P42.60 per kg exhibited a price increase of nearly 1 percent from previous week’s level. Relative to the same period in the previous year, it was also priced higher by 8.81 percent.

The average retail price of well milled rice at P45.32 per kg posted an uptick of 0.71 percent from the same level a week ago. Similarly, it rose by 8.03 percent from P41.95 per kg in the previous year.

As for regular milled rice, the average wholesale price at P39.13 per kg during the week moved upward by 0.69 percent. Relative to the same period in the previous year, this week’s price level accelerated by 10.72 percent.

The average retail price of regular milled rice, on the other hand, picked up to 41.59 per kg, 0.78 percent higher compared to the previous week’s level. It likewise climbed by 9.71 percent from the level a year ago at P37.91 per kg.

Right now, Philippine’s daily rice requirement is estimated at 32,750 metric tons.