Palay supply enough to meet demand: DA
Saturday, March 20, 2010
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THE Department of Agriculture (DA) expects supply of palay to reach 3.463 million metric tons (MT) from April to June.
DA officer-in-charge Undersecretary Salvador Salacup said in his report that the projected palay supply is more than enough to cover the national requirement for the period which is expected to be at 3.303 million MT in the second quarter.
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That, he said, is despite the onslaught of the prolonged dry spell projected by the Pag-asa (Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration) to last until June this year.
DA 7 director Ricardo Oblena said that the department has been implementing mitigation measures for the prolonged dry spell and production and supply of palay in the Central Visayas has remained stable.
“So far we have no problems with palay, what the region is closely monitoring is our corn production,” Oblena said in phone interview with Sun.Star Cebu Tuesday.
Prices of prime commodities such as rice, chicken, and fish are also seen to be stable in the second quarter, the DA said, as these goods are expected to be in ample supply.
DA also said that prices of sugar and chicken are also expected to go down soon, owing to the stabilizing supply of these commodities in the market. Chicken prices are expected to go down following requests from producers to lower poultry reference prices so that they reflect the farm gate costs.
