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Rice price hike looms before March harvest: industry groups

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Vivienne Gulla, ABS-CBN News

MANILA - Rice prices in the country may still increase before the next harvest season begins in March, according to industry groups.The Federation of Free Farmers (FFF) and the Philippine Rice Industry Stakeholders Movement (PRISM) said among the factors that could drive prices up are gaps in local supply and rising prices in the international market.FFF Chairperson Leonardo Montemayor told Teleradyo Serbisyo palay prices have risen to around P30 per kilo.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/10/19/23/agri-group-proposes-another-rice-price-cap">Agri group proposes another rice price cap</a></li></ul>“Ang equivalent niyan sa presyo ng bigas sa retail, roughly times two, P60. Tapos yung imported na bigas na pumupuno sa ating kulang na supply ay mahal at nagmamahal pa rin,” Montemayor said.The El Niño weather phenomenon may also affect supplies, he said. <figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2879989" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>PRISM Co-Founder Orly Manuntag said the price of rice may increase by P1 to P2 depending on the international market. Based on the Department of Agriculture’s monitoring of rice prices in Metro Manila on Thursday, local well-milled rice ranges from P45 to P57, while imported well-milled rice is at P52.The National Food Authority meanwhile is pushing for rice importation to augment the country’s supply. During Wednesday’s briefing before the House Committee on Agriculture and Food, NFA Administrator Roderico Bioco assured the panel initial shipments of rice from India are expected to arrive in the country this month. But he admitted prices will remain a challenge.“We will have more supply by December. Prices are something that we hope will go down. But considering there is no more supply from the local market, unfortunately, there will still be [a] challenge in the prices of rice for December,” Bioco said.He explained that the rice prices in other countries are also increasing. This is seen to affect local rice prices.“Maraming importers natin hindi na nag-import, dahil nakita nila mas mura pag bumili sa domestic. So nag-agawan ngayon dito sa loob. Tumaas ang presyo ng palay natin, which made many of our farmers very happy,” Agriculture Undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian told the panel.A lawmaker meanwhile said middlemen are behind the rising prices.“The reason prices went up is alam ng middle men na kukulangin ‘yung import, kulang din ang supply ng harvest, so pinataas nila ang presyo. Walang NFA to balance it off,” Nueva Ecija 3rd District Representative Ria Vergara said.Meanwhile, House Deputy Majority Leader Rep. Erwin Tulfo urged the Department of Agriculture and the National Food Authority to investigate if there is price manipulation in rice. PRISM, meanwhile, is calling for a greenlane for imported rice.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/12/05/23/inflation-slows-to-41-percent-in-november">Inflation slows to 4.1 percent in November</a></li></ul><div> </div>

Rice prices in the country may still increase before the next harvest season begins in March, according to industry groups.

Rice price hike looms before March harvest: industry groups

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Rice price hike looms before March harvest: industry groups

Vivienne Gulla,

ABS-CBN News

Published December 08, 2023 06:53 PM PHT

Read More:

Rice

prices

NFA

National Food Authority

Department of Agriculture

House of Representatives

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