The government is expecting rice prices in the country to decrease as the Department of Agriculture (DA) started talks with Vietnam and India and received favorable quotations from potential suppliers. 

In a statement released on Friday, Aug. 11, Agriculture Undersecretary Domingo F. Panganiban said the DA opened talks with Vietnam and India as ordered by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr., who concurrently heads the agriculture department.

“As a result, Vietnamese exporters have given price quotations that are US$30-40  lower than what was quoted in their recent meeting in Malacañang,” it stated.

According to the DA official, this will result in better terms for the additional 300,000 to 500,000 metric tons of rice imports that are anticipated to increase the country's rice supply. 

The agriculture department is also working with the government of India “to allow imports (to continue) on humanitarian grounds”, he added.

Panganiban hopes that this will “pave the way for the country to get better terms for the additional 300,000 to 500,000 MT rice importation for this year.”

“This will help lower the prices of rice as it will further beef up our national inventory which, even without importation, is expected to last for 52 to 57 days by the end of 2023,” he went on.

Rice production growth 

Recently, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) stated in its report that the rice output from January to June 2023 increased to 9 million MT, up from 8.7 million MT produced in the same time last year and in 2021, which was greater than the DA had previously estimated.

The three percent growth in rice production over the same period in 2022 is excellent news, per Agriculture Undersecretary for Rice Industry Development Leocadio Sebastian.

“With the three percent production growth in the 1st Semester, we can expect that barring the occurrence of destructive typhoons,  the production for 2023 could surpass 20 MMT,” he stated. 

“The country's rice production will continue to grow considering the good palay price in the previous cropping and provision of various interventions by DA (of seeds, fertilizers, biofertilizers, soil ameliorants, farm machinery extension support).”

Earlier, Marcos assured the public that the agriculture department has an ample supply of rice despite the agricultural damage wreaked by super typhoon Egay in Northern Luzon and the El Niño phenomenon.

The chief executive has recently met with the agricultural officials and traders at the  Malacañan Palace where they shared their recommendations to address issues on rice supply in the country.