IKOT.PH
The maximum suggested retail price (MSRP) for imported rice will remain during the two-month suspension of rice imports ordered by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. announced. The MSRP for 5 percent broken imported rice was reduced to P43 per kilo from P45 on July 16. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. decided […]
Eighteen warehouses of the National Food Authority (NFA) across Central and Northern Luzon opened their gates, welcoming rice farmers and farm workers seeking access to the P20 ‘Benteng Bigas, Meron Na!’ Rice Project—President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s flagship initiative to make rice more affordable for those who grow it. Eligible rice farmers—those tilling two hectares or […]
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. and National Irrigation Administrator Eduardo Guillen joined thousands of rice farmers and members of irrigators’ associations across the country’s top rice-producing province to celebrate this year’s Second Dry Season Harvest Festival. During the event, a ceremonial harvesting of palay was conducted on a 5.7-hectare farmland of Arsenio Mallare, a […]
The Department of Agriculture (DA) is moving forward with expansion of the P20 rice program of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to smallholder rice farmers despite criticisms of self-styled farmer leaders. Slated for launch on August 13, the initiative will allow millions of rice farmers—those tilling no more than three hectares and registered under the Registry […]
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the decision of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to suspend rice imports for 60 days—while holding off on a tariff hike—is a “measured response” to the current challenges faced by rice farmers. “The suspension is a more calibrated action—one that we can quickly reverse if needed,” Tiu Laurel said. “It gives […]
Senator Kiko Pangillinan, who now chairs the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food, and Agrarian Reform, is pushing for the strengthening and expansion of the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) extension services to reach farmers in the provinces. Pangilinan lamented that currently, farmers couldn’t access the DA’s services because the agency only has regional offices. “Ang extension […]
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said that he will recommend to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. the distribution of frozen mackerel recently seized by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) at the ports of Manila and Subic. Laboratory tests conducted by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources confirmed that the smuggled fish are safe for […]
The Department of Agriculture (DA) has lifted its temporary ban on the importation of domestic and wild birds and related products—including poultry meat, day-old chicks, eggs, and semen—originating from Australia. The ban was initially instituted under DA Memorandum Order No. 21, issued in June last year, following reported outbreaks of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI). Australian […]
Starting August 13, warehouses of the National Food Authority (NFA) will open their doors not only to buy palay from farmers but also to allow them to participate in the “Benteng Bigas, Meron Na!”—a key initiative of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. where rice is sold at P20 a kilo. “It is only fair that those […]
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has allocated P18 billion to expand the government’s “Benteng Bigas, Meron Na!” initiative to provide as many as 60 million Filipinos access to the P20-per-kilo rice. Speaking at a post-State of the Nation Address forum in San Juan City, Tiu Laurel explained that about […]