Rice
Mongo
Peanut
Eggplant
Mango
Tomato
Coffee
Banana
(Saba)
Calamansi
(Philippine Lemon)
Papaya
Pineapple
Tobacco
|
Rice |
Mongo |
Peanut |
Eggplant |
Mango |
Tomato |
Coffee |
Banana (Saba) |
Calamansi (Philippine Lemon) |
Papaya |
Pineapple |
Tobacco |
RICE
TECHNICAL
DESCRIPTION
Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the most important cereal crop in the
Philippines and is the staple food of over 70 million Filipinos.
It contributes about 35% to the total calorie intake of Filipinos.
Cultivated rice or “palay”
is an annual grass with round, pointed culms, flat leaves and terminal panicles. The grain is ripened ovary.
When it matures, 90-100% of the filled spikelets turns yellow.
Though there are several varieties of palay that are available, the most common are the IR-64 and IR-36 varieties. IR-64 is the preferred variety because it is high yielding (about 5.3 mt/ha.) and pest-resistant. Moreover, it has good eating quality (i.e. soft and can be digested easily). It grows to 105 cm. high, taller than the IR-36 variety which stands at 85 cm. only. It is less susceptible to birds and crows.
UTILIZATION AND CONSUMPTION
About 88% is used as food, 4% for processing, 2% for seeds and 6% goes to
feeds and waste. The per capita
consumption averages at 93 kg/year.
FARM PRACTICES
Palay growers till an average farm plot of 0.5 – 3.0 hectares.
Most farmers lease the land they till.
Sharecropping is the dominant practice where the landowner gets 1/6 of
the total harvest. Farmers normally
practice crop protection. Rainfed
areas can support only 1-2 croppings a year (usually rice – mongo) while
irrigated areas can support 3 croppings a year (rice – rice – mongo/watermelon)
or a combination thereof. Upland
areas, on the other hand, merely have one cropping season which accounts for the
low volume of upland rice available in the market.
Farmers usually require production loans from informal sources such as
agents or traders. The preference
for informal sources lies in their accessibility to borrowers, precision of
production and consumption loans and acceptance of repayments in kind.
Interest charges range from 6% to 10% for a period of and payable within
3 to 6 months.
Production loans cover the inputs and labor expenses of the farmer.
Harvested palay is often sold to the trader/financier who deducts the
total loan from the proceeds of the harvest.
Some traders/financiers allow farmers to settle their loans.
SPECIFICATIONS
Palay is classified according to its moisture content, as follows:
“Lay-ang” – semi-dry palay with moisture content of 15-18%.
“Labtong” – newly threshed palay with moisture content of more than
18%.
“Bahay” – fermented palay, which is dried and threshed three days
after harvesting.
Traders encourage farmers to plant the preferred IR-64 or IR-36 varieties. Due to the demand of these varieties, and the credit tie-up and patronage, farmers often have no option but to follow the traders advice.
Across rice types, a price difference of P0.50 – P1.00 / kg. exists, with ready-to-mill fetching the highest price. Palay is packed in sacks averaging 40-42 kgs. each. For wholesale transactions a minimum volume of 1 sack holds.
Rice on the other hand, is classified according to the cropping season. Quality as a sub-classification is also considered.
“bag-o”
– recent cropping season’s harvest further classified into:
Superwhite
– very white grains; polished rice with more head rice and fewer
broken grains; considered first class rice.
Good or regular white – not as white as superwhite; has less head grains and a higher percentage of broken grains; considered second class rice.
“Bahay”
– yellowish and fermented grains; considered as third class rice.
“Laon” - last cropping or the previous season’s harvest. It has dirty – white grains and has no sub-classification. It is more expensive than the “bag-o” since it becomes puffy when cooked making it a favorite among budget-conscious consumers; a price difference of P0.50 – P1.00 / kg. exists between “bag-o” and “laon” rice.
Upland
varieties such as Malido, BE-3, Azucena etc. are also sold in the market and are
classified as such, whether in palay or in rice form.
Buyers’
preferences actually vary, depending on the income bracket and the occasion.
Fancy varieties are preferred by upper income consumers. Consumers at the lower end of the income scale may also buy
fancy rice during special occasions like fiesta celebrations.
During such occasions, fancy rice is usually used as an enhancer or
aromatic agent and mixed with regular rice.
SEASONALITY
Cropping pattern of palay/rice has changed with the weather conditions.
Peak harvest used to commence in August but now it is from September to
October, which is also corresponds to the peak trading months.
The lean supply months are from November to January and May to August. December is a peak trading month. Traders thus store enough supply from the first and second
cropping to ensure supply during lean production months.
Palay prices are inversely proportional to supply. Prices normally decline as the harvest begins and vice versa. Rice prices, nonetheless, remain stable. During lean production months, however, rice prices surge and fluctuate regularly.
PRICE FORMATION AND DIFFERENTIATION
Supply
and demand factors influence rice traders, by withholding their stocks rice hoarders
can control the prices. Retailers based
their retail selling prices on their procurement price.
A price difference of P5.00 – 10.00/ cavan exists between fancy rice and the IR-series. A P15.00 – P20.00 price difference per cavan occurs between wet and dry palay. Due to artificial shortage in supply for the previous years, rice prices soared to P1,200.00 / sack. Under normal condition palay is sold at only P6.80/kg.
location
and distance from buyers;
volume
of traders; and
capacity to produce
Market
Flow
Producer/Farmer ---> Middlemen/Wholesaler ---> Retailer ---> Consumers
Producer/Farmer ---> Retailer --> Consumer
Producer/Farmer
---> Consumer
Western
Visayas 2002 Rice
Production
|
Provinces |
Area Harvested (ha.) |
Production
(MT) |
| Aklan Antique Capiz Iloilo Guimaras Negros Occ. |
40.794 69.511 114.647 239.718 16.961 102.236 |
128.668 |
| Total |
563.867 |
1,722.729 |