THE Provincial Government is eyeing for interventions to improve the buying price of Palay.
This was revealed yesterday by Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson after he got the report that the price of Palay now has gone down to as low as P7 per kilo.
Lacson said he will call a meeting next week with officials from the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) and his legal team in order to discuss how to address the current problem over the dropping price of palay.
According to the governor they will try to work on a solution for rice farmers in the province and they will coordinate with officials from the National Food Authority (NFA).
Lacson said one option they are looking is to convince the NFA to add at least a few pesos when they purchase palay from farmers.
He pointed out the option is currently being practiced in the province of Isabela, wherein the NFA reportedly added at least P1 when purchasing palay from local farmers.
Lacson also confirmed that he received reports that in some areas, palay is now being purchased at only P7, and it is the reason why farmers are now urging local government units to intervene.
According to OPA, a recent report projected prices for locally-produced palay, or rice, will see a continuous drop.
OPA head, Atty. Japhet Masculino said, if there is no intervention by the local government, prices will further go down.
The harvest for the first cropping has just started that's why local price is going down, Masculino also said.
The provincial official said the Department of Agriculture is currently looking into ways to assist farmers affected by the falling prices.