More provinces buy palay from farmers

MANILA, Philippines — More provinces in the northern part of the country are now engaging in the entire rice value chain after directly buying palay from farmers in efforts to address declining farmgate prices brought by the opening of the market to imports.

Agriculture Secretary William Dar said three top rice producing provinces in the country are now helping farmers cope with plummeting prices.

For one, Isabela has been buying palay directly from farmers, dry and mill them into rice, and sell it directly in the province and the cities of Makati, Quezon City, Mandaluyong and San Juan.

Nueva Ecija likewise allotted P200 million to aggressively buy palay from farmers, dry and mill them into rice, and sell the majority to Metro Manila.

Ilocos Norte has also agreed to begin engaging directly in the rice industry value chain to benefit both farmers and consumers.

“We appeal to the other top 27 rice producing provinces to follow suit, to help our small rice farmers and their families tide the current dampened prices of palay,” Dar said.

“Other provinces that are not financially sound can borrow money from the Land Bank of the Philippines and Development Bank of the Philippines for capital to engage in palay procurement, drying, milling and marketing operations,” he added.

Dar said provincial local government units could use their Internal Revenue Allotment as collateral when securing a soft loan from either Land Bank or DBP.

“With the loan, they could buy dryers, rice mills, weighing, and other needed farm machinery,” he said.