To safeguard the income of local rice farmers against a looming intense El Niño and climbing global costs for fuel and fertilizers, the government is ramping up its support strategies ahead of the wet cropping season.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) announced targeted interventions designed to shield agricultural workers from losing money due to expensive inputs driven by international oil market spikes.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. emphasized during his trip to Nueva Ecija that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. explicitly ordered the department to secure the financial stability of the farming sector.
“The President’s directive is to make sure our farmers earn properly and do not lose money in the next harvest season despite higher fertilizer prices,” he said.
A central pillar of this defense strategy is the early disclosure of palay buying rates prior to harvest, giving farmers a clearer picture of their potential profits so they can plan their planting more effectively.
Through this scheme, the National Food Authority (NFA) will set advance purchasing rates to act as a baseline price for the entire rice sector. The agency is prepared to buy wet palay at ₱22 per kilogram and dry palay at ₱27 per kilogram.
“Even before harvest starts nationwide, the NFA will already set a buying price of ₱22 per kilo for wet palay and ₱27 per kilo for dry palay,” Tiu Laurel said. “The goal is to set a benchmark for the industry and help ensure that farmers can earn a reasonable profit.”
NFA Administrator Larry Lacson indicated that the agency will pivot to a much more assertive approach than what was seen in the previous dry season.
“Unlike during the dry season when we came in later mainly to match prices already being offered by private traders, we will be more aggressive this coming season,” he said. “We will be buying early and at higher prices.”
In anticipation of the harvest peak in September, the NFA is currently optimizing its warehouse spaces and prepping its depots to efficiently receive the incoming palay yields.