May 07, 2024 - In a gesture of gratitude to President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., irrigators have begun selling rice for as low as P20 per kilo at Kadiwa outlets of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA). This initiative is a direct result of the numerous aids the Marcos administration has provided to farmers to boost their production.
The move was made possible by the irrigators’ association, which has benefited from government support and now sells the staple as an act of gratitude, said NIA Administrator Eduardo Guillen on Tuesday. “This is an initiative of our irrigators association. They told me when I was talking to them, as a thank you for the many aids they receive from our government. They also offer P20 rice,” Guillen explained during a press briefing in Malacañang.
When asked about the profitability of this initiative, Guillen shared, “I asked, ‘Won’t you lose on that?’ ‘No,’ they said because, again, the input cost is simple math - the cost of inbred, if you plant inbred is P30,000; their yield is P5,000.”
Using the National Food Authority’s 63-percent formula, there will be around P10 peso production cost for every kilo of rice, allowing farmers to earn a 100-percent profit, even doubling the cost, the NIA chief pointed out.
Guillen also mentioned NIA’s large contract farming project, which could offer lower rice prices to the public. “In fact, our estimate there, we can sell for about P29 by August. And we have around 100 million kilos of rice projected to be produced by August,” he told reporters.
“That is the target of the Department of Agriculture (DA), that is our target. The DA said they have a supply in July but for NIA, we will have by August, the P29 rice,” he added.
Kadiwa is one of the programs of the Marcos administration addressing the rising food prices. It also provides farmers, fisherfolks, and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) with rent-free venues to sell their produce and increase their income. It is a market linkage facilitation program that removed the unnecessary layers in the trading cycle, thereby offering products at much lower prices.