By Danilo P. Padua, PhD
First there was rice available to the consumers at the DA main premises costing only PhP25.00/kg using a very effective and environment-friendly biofertilizer. It was there for about 6 months last year, for our less fortunate “kababayans”. The merchandise was class A
Now, more of our poorer citizens can buy rice at Kadiwa stores, located in some places especially in Metro Manila, at PhP29.00/kg. The supply is coming from a few selected local farm cooperatives/associations. It is somehow sustained up to this time only because it was augmented by confiscated smuggled rice.
Such Kadiwa stores are now planned to be expanded in various parts of the Philippines, including Visayas and Mindanao areas. That should be most welcome for those who are patronizing the stores. There is a need in fact of increasing the number of Kadiwa store to serve the general public, not only the impoverished sector. After all, the money to be spent for the store expansion comes from the people’s taxes.
For those who do not know yet, there is a Kadiwa store set up at the Bureau of Plant Industry Compound, Guisad, Baguio city. It is selling various agricultural commodities including veggies, fruits, eggs, root crops, processed agri-products and others.
In early 2021, during the pandemic, there was a plan to establish a Kadiwa-like store at the Maharlika Livelihood Complex. Participating cooperatives who will supply the goods were already identified. Unfortunately, it did not materialize. As MLC is centrally-located, maybe a Kadiwa store may still be established in the Complex if space allows, to serve more people.
Relying on smuggled rice to maintain supply and sell at a low price locally is a bad idea. Farmers do not benefit from it. Even consumers will be at a disadvantage as proven by the sky high prices in the general market despite the smuggled and imported rice. It may somehow abate smuggling which the government is fighting against.
But chances are it will go on just the same due to poor implementation of laws and the presence of government personnel who have selective visual sense, and more concerned with their bulging pockets.
For sustainability purposes, the farmer cooperatives should be further empowered, encouraged, properly guided with the use of new and effective technologies, and helped financially at the beginning so they could produce the necessary supply. They are the key to such sustainability of the program.
The way things are at present, many farmer cooperatives are runcapriciously by some officers. Besides, agriculture officials may tend to favor some production inputs that may not be so effectiveas other products for whatever reasons, such as relevant regional testing results, they maybe entertaining.
At the onset of this present administration, there was a plan to establish or strengthen many relevant farmer cooperatives, starting in the North-Central Luzon area. Am not sure how far they have already got into this. I was willing to be part of the team to work on this program. Seems the financial side is proving to be a stumbling block to overcome.
With proper impetus, farmer cooperatives could surely deliver rice supply to the entire Kadiwa store chain. This equates to food availability and security. It could even eliminate rice importation.
The big problem arises when decision makers at any level, will be consumed by un-tempered avarice.
The whole-of-stakeholders approach should be in operation here-from the decision makers, to producers, to traders, to distributors, and to retailers. Everybody should be in cadence.
The current reality appears to be daunting. At this very moment for example, traders are currently insisting to buy palay from farmers at around PhP13.00/kg. This is way too low and definitely dismays the farmers. Because of this, some are suggesting that NFA should buy the palay instead which is not always possible as its budget for such purpose is very limited.
The LGUs can do something about this like what the city of Naga in Camarines Sur is doing. The city government is going around the farms during harvest time to buy the farmers’ produce using their own trucks, at a price much higher than those offered by traders.
Farmer coops could be encouraged, helped in procuring their own trucks and putting up their own rice mills. Then they can haul their own produce to the Kadiwa stores or even retailers. All this will redound to cutting down of costs.
Result? Maintenance of rice price at PhP29.00/kg.
Benguet has a very limited area for rice production compared even to all other provinces in CAR. What could be done in the province is to promote alternative sources of carbohydrates such as potato, camote, gabi, banana (“dippig” o saba variety), and others thereby limiting rice intake.
This could be done.
I got used to eating less rice when I lived for sometime in Europe while I was pursuing a graduate course and a trainee there. In there, they eat only one meal of rice in one week. I have carried that until now.**
