AS a way of thanking President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. for the much assistance his administration has given to farmers to increase their production, irrigators have started to sell rice as low as P20/kilo rice at Kadiwa outlets of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA).
This was made possible by the irrigators’ association benefitting from government support and now sells the staple as an act of gratitude, NIA Administrator Eduardo Guillen said on Tuesday.
“Inisyatibo po ito ng ating mga irrigators association. Sabi nila noong kinakausap ko sila, bilang pasasalamat nila [ito] sa napakarami nilang tinatanggap na mga ayuda sa gobyerno natin. Nag-o-offer din sila ng P20 na bigas,” Guillen said in a press briefing in Malacañang when asked about the initiative.
“Sabi ko, ‘Hindi ba kayo lugi niyan?’ ‘Ah, hindi’ sabi nila kasi, again, ang input cost, simple math lang po ‘no – ang cost ng inbred, ‘pag nagtanim ka ng inbred is P30,000; ang yield nila is P5,000,” he pointed out.
If NFA’s 63-percent formula is used, there will be around P10 peso production cost for every kilo of rice and farmers can earn 100-percent profit, even doubling the cost, said the NIA chief.
Guillen also mentioned NIA’s big contract farming project, which could also offer lower rice prices to the public. “In fact, ang aming estimate diyan, mga nasa P29 puwede na kaming magbenta, by August naman kami. And we have around 100 million kilos of rice na projected na ma-produce po natin by August,” he told reporters.
“Iyon po ang target ng DA, iyon po ang target natin. Sabi ng DA (Department of Agriculture), July may supply sila pero ang NIA, by August po kami, iyong P29 na bigas,” he said.
Kadiwa is one of the programs of the Marcos administration addressing the rising food prices. It also gives farmers, fisherfolks as well as micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) rent-free venues to sell their produce and increase their income. It is a market linkage facilitation program that removed the unnecessary layers in the trading cycle, thereby offering products at much lower prices.
