INQUIRER.net STOCK PHOTO
The Philippines’ stocks of rice and corn at the beginning of July plummeted, based on a report from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Total rice inventory as of July 1 was at 2.03 million metric tons (MT), down by 6.6 percent from 2.2 million MT recorded in the same period a year ago, the PSA said.
It was also down by 2.7 percent from last month’s 2.1 million MT.
Rice stored in commercial warehouses and the National Food Authority (NFA) depositories declined by 17.9 percent and 22 percent, respectively. Stocks of households increased by 8 percent.
“The total rice stocks as of July 01, 2022 were composed of 52.3 percent from households, 39.8 percent from commercial warehouses, wholesalers, retailers and 7.9 percent from NFA depositories,” it said.
Data from the Bureau of Plant Industry showed as of Aug. 18, the country imported 2.5 million MT of rice, with Vietnam accounting for the majority of imported rice at over 2 million MT.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) said last month it would distribute more rice seeds to more farmers this year to help them boost productivity and income.
Through the National Rice Program, the agency targeted providing quality inbred and hybrid seeds in 15 regions spanning 1.8 million hectares (ha).
More than P6.4 million worth of seeds covering 582,780 ha of farmland has been given to farmers, of which P5.32 million are hybrid seeds and the remaining P1.1 million are certified seeds.
As of Thursday, local commercial rice in Metro Manila markets is being sold from P38 to P50 per kilogram, unchanged from a year ago, based on the DA’s price monitoring.
Meanwhile, imported commercial rice ranges from P38 to P52 per kg, against P43 to P52 per kg a year prior.
Total corn inventory for the period was pegged at 746,920 MT, a decline of 19.2 percent from last year’s 924,250 MT.
This also represented a 14.5 percent decrease from the previous month’s 873,480 MT.