MANILA, Philippines -- The prices of commercial rice have started to drop by up to P2 per kilo, amid the onset of the traditional lean months, due largely to the government’s aggressive infusion of rice into the public markets.

Normally, prices of the staple rise during the months of July, August and September when farmers begin planting for the next season, thus, palay harvests are usually minimal, if at all.

“The price drop is significant because it is happening when retail prices are supposed to be on the upswing during the traditional three-month lean period,” said Agriculture Secretary Arthur C. Yap.

Bureau of Agricultural Statistics Director Romeo Recide, in a report to Yap, said that while rice prices in Metro Manila had stabilized, prices in other regions had dropped by as much as P2 per kilo.

National Food Authority Administrator Jessup P. Navarro said the decline in prices was a result of the “selective bombardment” strategy carried out by the NFA.

Navarro said the NFA had started injecting as much as 350,000 metric tons of rice—seven million 50-kilogram bags—into the markets every month in order to stabilize supplies and bring prices down, not just during the lean months but the rest of the year.

Navarro said the NFA increased its supplies to markets by more than 300 percent to 10,000-14,000 tons a day, from the normal 3,000 tons.

He said that given the NFA’s comfortable stockpile, the government was ready to continue flooding the market with state-subsidized rice at P18.25 a kilo and commercial varieties at P25 and P35 per kilo.

Navarro said that while commercial rice prices had gone down to as low as P34 a kilo in some places, the NFA would continue to pump P35 per kilo government stocks where needed in order to pull down prices where they exceed P38.

“Because the NFA has adequate rice stocks in its warehouses, it has been able to undertake this selective bombardment strategy whenever and wherever necessary as a way to stabilize retail prices,” Yap said.

Rice retail prices have started to retreat in Baguio City, where regular milled rice now costs P36 a kilo from P38, and Iloilo and Cebu cities where regular milled rice retails for P38 a kilo from a high of P40.

In Tuguegarao City, regular milled rice now costs P34 a kilo from P35; well-milled rice P36 from P37, and premium rice P38 from P39.

In Zamboanga City, regular milled rice now sells for P38 a kilo from P39; in Davao City the price dropped to P36 from P38.

In Cotabato City, prices dropped by P1 a kilo across the board, with the regular milled variety now selling at P37, well-milled at P39 and premium at P40.

The government has sufficient rice inventories this year after last summer’s bumper harvest of 7.1 million tons, coupled with the 2.3 million tons it has contracted to buy from abroad.