By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

According to the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA), a recent report projected prices for locally-produced palay, or rice, will see a continuous drop. OPA head, Atty. Japhet Masculino, yesterday said, if there is no intervention by the local government, prices will proceed to go down.
“The average farm gate price of palay continued to decrease to P13 to P14 per kilo from P18 to P20 per kilo,” he explained.
The provincial official said the Department of Agriculture is currently looking into ways to assist farmers affected by the falling prices.
“One intervention the agency is looking at is the procurement of palay during calamities by local government units,” Masculino noted.
He claimed one of the reasons why prices have been in decline is because traders have a surplus of imported stock and are not purchasing domestically-produced grain./DGB, WDJ