An organization of farmers on Wednesday warned of a possible rice supply glut and depressed palay (unmilled rice) farmgate prices due to the government’s unlimited importation of the staple even as it is hyping up local production. The warning comes after the Department of Agriculture (DA) issued Sanitary and Phytosanitary Import Clearances (SPSICs) for about 2.7 million tons of rice imports and expressed confidence that these would materialize after Vietnam announced that it would resume exporting rice. According to Federation of Free Farmers National Manager Raul Montemayor, the simultaneous expansion of both imports and local production would only lead to lower farmgate prices. “Based on our computations, we will have an ending inventory by December 31 of this year of 3.9 million tons of rice — good for 110 days — if both these policies are pursued. This will create a glut that will bring down prices during the main harvest season from September to November this year and will even spill over to the dry season harvest from February to April next year,” Montemayor said.
