Philcongrains urges next admin to lower palay production cost

MANILA, Philippines - An association of rice producers and traders is urging the next administration to lower the cost of palay (unmilled rice) production to significantly curb smuggling instead of merely increasing rice imports.

“We are asking the next administration to focus on lowering the cost of palay production instead of focusing on importation,” said Joji Co, president of the Philippine Confederation of Grains Associations (Philcongrains).

He said the government should also further lower the rate of production wastage by increasing milling efficiency and preventing losses due to poor drying techniques.

“About five to 25 percent of (palay) production is lost to inefficient milling while about eight percent is lost to sun drying of palay. So what we are importing is the rice lost to wastage, not the deficiency,” said Co.

“We also need more farm-to-market roads and irrigation facilities,” he added.

Rice farmers in the country , organized as cooperatives, can avail of production assistance from the government in the form of access to high-quality planting materials, financing for equipment and access to technology.

They can also sell their produce to state grains procurement agency National Food Authority (NFA) at a support price.

Co said the country actually has an oversupply of rice this year as a result of importation for use as buffer stock as a stronger dry spell threatens palay production this quarter until the first half of 2016.

“This year, we actually see an oversupply, a glut, because some of the local harvests during the summer were not yet sold. The NFA (National Food Authority) has also not yet disposed of all their stocks,” said Co.

He said because of abundant supply, farmgate prices of palay in major rice-producing provinces of Bulacan, Nueva Ecija and Isabela have fallen to 14 per kilogram, wet. Traders thus buy clean and dry palay from farmers at P17 per kilogram. By yearend, palay farmgate prices are expected to fall further to P13 per kilogram.