The new rates were forged in the recently concluded tripartite conference among traders, tobacco farmers, and NTA representatives led by Administrator Carlitos Encarnacion who attributed the increases to the pro-farmer advocacy of President Arroyo and Agriculture Secretary Montemayor.
For Virginia tobacco, the new floor prices are: Grade AA-P46; Grade A-P45; B-P43; C-P41; D-P36.50; E-P35.50; F1-P31.50; F2-P28.50; R (reject)-P16.50. Except for the lower grades, the new prices reflect an increase of P1.50.
For burley tobacco which are mostly grown in Pangasinan and Mindoro: Grade A-P33.50; B-P31.50, C-P29.50; D-P26.50, E-P25.50; F-P18.50; R-P11.50. The new rates except for rejects are up by P2.
For native/dark filler tobacco chiefly grown in Cagayan, Isabela, Visayas and Mindanao; High grade (Batek/Morado)-P36. M-1 (Liso high)-P28.50; M-2 (Liso medium)-P24; L-1 (Liso short sapod)- P18; L-2 or reject.P10. The average increase is P2.
Encarnacion said the floor price mechanism was adopted to insure that farmers are guaranteed of a fair income even as he said that market forces and the quality of their leaf produce have traditionally pushed the prices way up beyond and the declared floor prices. – Teddy Molina