THE average farm-gate price of palay (unmilled rice) dropped by nearly one percent at the end of September but this was not reflected in retail trade as market prices remained high, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed.

In its latest price monitoring report, the PSA said the average quotation of palay in the fourth week of September fell by 0.91 percent to P22.93 per kilogram from P23.01/kg recorded in the previous week.