• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson welcomed on Wednesday, Aug. 6, the decision of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for a temporary suspension of rice importation, starting September 1, in time for the peak harvest season.
Lacson said the suspension of rice importation, as recommended by the Department of Agriculture, aims to protect local farmers, noting that the buying price of palay has really gone down.
He added the move of the President also prioritizes local farmers than traders.
While Negros Occidental is 86 percent rice sufficient, Lacson is encouraging farmers to increase their production to at least to six tons per hectare, noting that Negrense farmers are now producing four tons per hectare.
Pedro Limpangog, president of the Federation of Irrigators’ Associations Central Negros-Bago River Irrigation System Inc., said the suspension of rice importation favors the farmers.
The onset of the country’s harvest for the wet cropping season is expected to begin by mid-August, with peak harvesting projected between September and October, according to the Department of Agriculture.
While they are not opposing the rice importation, Limpangog noted that the prices of palay being bought in Negros Occidental is getting cheaper, at P14 to P15 per kilo, with the farmers spending P13 to produce a kilo of palay.
Limpangog said they are pushing to increase the selling of palay per kilo to P20 to P30. | GB
