Sinag urges Duterte: Allot P36-B to subsidize palay price
THE chairman of a farm industry group Samahan ng Industriyang Agrikultura (Sinag) is urging President Duterte to direct the Department of Agriculture (DA) to allot P36-billion to subsidize the P14 per kilo, farm gate price of palay.
Sinag Chair Rosendo So brought to the attention of the President “the dire situation confronting the farmers for their newly-harvested palay which are pegged at P11/kilogram (wet) and P14 to P15 kg (dry) which he said, Agriculture Sec. William Dar is reportedly claiming to be averaging P18/kg in Central Luzon and P19/kg in Cagayan Valley.
So said the low prices will not enable farmers to recover farm expenses and may force them to stop planting palay “for good.”
He said that palay prices should level at P19/kg.
He added that the rice milling industry is also on the verge of collapse because it cannot purchase the palay at the support price level of P17/kg given the deluge of imported rice flooding the market.
The expected total palay harvest this cropping period is nine million metric tons or should be P36-billion worth to farmers.
He said Bayanihan Heal as One Act alloted funds to subsidize the fertilizer requirements of farmers “but 80% of the funds still have not been fully distributed”
He added, “This is the dire situation of the agriculture sector. A looming hunger in the horizon for our food producers.” (PhilStar Wire Service/ECV)
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