THE average farmgate price of palay, or unmilled rice, rose 27.9% year on year to P24.59 per kilogram in June, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
The PSA said that all regions reported year-on-year growth in the average farmgate price of palay during the month.
On a month-on-month basis, farmgate prices slipped 0.8% from the P24.8 per kilo reported in May.
The highest prices in June were posted in the Ilocos Region, where palay prices rose 40.2% year on year to P28.3 per kilo.
The lowest farmgate price was recorded in the Eastern Visayas at P19.97 per kilo, up 13.3% year on year.
The National Food Authority Council has raised its purchasing price for palay in order to build up government reserves in preparation for possible calamities.
The buying price for dry and clean palay was raised to P23 to P30 per kilo and that for fresh palay to P17 to P23 per kilo, depending on location and quality of the grain.
The NFA said that it has total reserves of 149,000 metric tons, equivalent to about four days’ demand.
During the second quarter the PSA said that the average farmgate price rose 29.4% from a year earlier.
The Western Visayas reported the highest increase of 39%. The average farmgate prices in the region was P27.85 per kilo.
The Eastern Visayas had the lowest price average of P19.8 per kilo, up 15.8% from a year earlier. — Adrian H. Halili
