Luzon rice traders supply Metro with cheap grains

Consumers in Metro Manila enjoy cheap rice courtesy of traders from Nueva Ecija, Bulacan and Isabela. —JAM STA. ROSA

CABANATUAN CITY—Grains dealers are offering rice produced in Nueva Ecija, Bulacan and Isabela provinces at P39 a kilogram from April to May, to help manage the price jump created by the absence of supplies from the National Food Authority (NFA).

The NFA lost almost all its buffer stocks due to internal government debates about importing rice. Cheap NFA rice has kept the prices of commercial rice from drastically shooting up.

President Duterte recently approved rice importation before placing the NFA back under the supervision of the Department of Agriculture.

Rice millers in Nueva Ecija said they were prepared to supply Metro Manila markets until the rice imports arrived.

Newly harvested and milled rice had been delivered directly to wholesalers and retailers to keep the price steady at P39 a kilogram, according to Mel Coronel, president of the Nueva Ecija Rice Millers Association.

He said members of the association had contributed bags of rice which were deployed to assigned areas in Metro Manila.

They are expected to deliver 100,000 bags (each containing 50 kg) in April and another 100,000 bags in May, he said.

“We are selling our rice at a loss but … we are able to help our countrymen,” said Coronel, who met with Mr. Duterte and other rice dealers in Malacañang on April 5.

He said rice millers associations in Isabela and Bulacan had also promised to add 100,000 bags of rice each month.

The farm gate price of palay in Nueva Ecija is P20 a kg while dried palay sells for P24.50 a kg. —ANSELMO ROQUE