Katrina Domingo, ABS-CBN News

Farmers harvest their crops under the scorching sun on a tenth of a hectare rice farm in Barangay Krus na Ligas, Quezon City on Wednesday, April 17, 2024. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

MANILA — The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) on Tuesday said it would start selling rice for P29 per kilo in August as it expects to yield some 100 million kilograms of the staple grain from contracts with farmer cooperatives.

The NIA will sell 10-kilogram bags of rice at P29 per kilo in Kadiwa stores in three months, said NIA administrator Eduardo Guillen, noting that the grain would be produced through a 40,000-hectare contract farming agreement the agency entered into.

 “Mayroon tayong targeted areas like Metro Manila, Cebu, Davao,” he said when asked where the grain will be sold.

“We have around 100 million kilos of rice na projected na ma-produce natin by August,” he said.

The agency has also tapped farmer groups to mill the rice to further boost their earnings, Guillen said.

“Ang kanilang kikitain ay pati sa pagprocess ng bigas, pagdry,” he said.

“‘Yung whole value chain ng rice production dapat ma-capture ng mga farmers natin so yun ang tinuturo natin sa farmers natin,” he said.

The government is working to create rice production centers in every agricultural town, the NIA chief said. 

“Pagka mayroon kang sariling rice processing center sa bayan mo at na-capture mo yung whole value chain,” he said. 

“Kung maempower natin yung mga farmers na every town sana may rice processing centers, pati yung kartel mawawala,” he added.

Among President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s campaign promise was to bring down the price of rice to P20 per kilo.

Published Date: May 7, 2024