Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that average farm-gate prices of rice decreased in the last week of April.Price of palay decline to P18.37/kg from its previous week’s level of P18.48/kg amid of the increased purchase made by National Food Authority in recent months.
Moreover, PSA posted that trader’s average price which also declined by 11.3 percent to P18.37 per kilogram, from P20.71 per kg recorded in the same period last year.
Based on the report, “NFA bought 50 kgs of palay worth 3.073 million pesos which is equivalent to 153,665.5 metric tons (MT) in the first quarter of 2019”.
“The volume procurement which is 55 times higher than the normal was influenced by the attractive buying price”, NFA OIC-Administrator Tomas R. Escarez said.
The increase of buying price is a way to protect farmers from the more liberated market. Due to the decrease of farm-gate price also sliced down the prices of wholesale and retail of well-milled rice.
PSA showed that wholesale price went down by 0.5 percent, PhP 39.72/kg from PhP 39.91/kg, while retail price also decreased by 0.6 percent to PhP43.52/kg from PhP43.77/kg.
Aside from the farm-gate prices of Rice, average farm-gate of yellow corn inched up by 0.5 percent, from PhP 14.14/kg to PhP 14.21/kg, while white corn decreased by 0.2 percent, from PhP16.13/kg to PhP16.10/kg.