THERE are plans to expand the sale of 100-percent broken but high-quality and cheaper “Sulit Rice” to more areas, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said in a statement.
Broken rice — fragments that result from drying, transport, and milling — is shorter in length but equal in quality to regular white rice. It currently sells at P36 per kilogram (kg).
Tiu Laurel noted that since Sulit Rice was well-received in two pilot testing areas, the Department of Agriculture (DA) will make it available in more Kadiwa ng Pangulo centers.
Lower-priced 5-percent broken rice will likewise be offered as options, Tiu Laurel said while denouncing profiteers behind the selling of imported rice at P60/kg.
In consultative meetings with rice importers and millers, Tiu Laurel explained that profiteering undermined the efforts of the DA and the government in stabilizing the rice market, and negatively affected the livelihood of local farmers.
“In our meetings, it was clear that [5-percent broken] imported rice should not be sold at P60 per kilo,” Tiu Laurel said. “Selling imported rice at that price is profiteering…”
Imported rice should ideally be sold at P50 per kg, enough for importers and retailers to make a decent profit, Tiu Laurel pointed out.
More consultative meetings will be held this week to set a maximum suggested retail price (MSRP) for rice to be finalized by the end of January.
However, the MSRP won’t be a price cap, but rather a guide to make rice affordable to the public.
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