The Cost of Rice Planting in the Philippines

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I have seen a lot of fellow Filipino people who believe that 20 pesos per kg of rice would be feasible in the 6-year term of Marcos if he wins the upcoming presidential election. While I wish it could it won't be practical enough and a substantial plan must be held to make it happen. It would also be viable if all the prices of goods and commodities went down at the same time. Or the exchange rate of the dollar value of the Philippine peso would be 10 to 20 php.

Base from the current data that is unlikely to happen. According to The Economy Forecast Agency, for 2022 to 2026, the exchange rate forecast based on our current economy can go up to 56 PHP per dollar. (Buy a dollar now, sell later, a good topic for the next article)

In my previous article, I mentioned how I was able to get to college with the help of rice planting on my father's inherited land from his parents. Though, it did not help in monetary value, it did lessen our spending on buying rice in the market. I can still remember, way back in the 2000s, the price of rice is ranging from 25-30 pesos. However, all other prices of goods and commodities are also within that range.

You can still buy coke for only 8 PHP, Tang juice for only 8 php, Redhorse for only 18 PHP, Yosi for 12 PHP per kaha, shampoo for 4.50 PHP per sachet, 2 candies per piso and all other lower price goods and commodities. But if the rice goes down in price today, can goods, services, and commodities adapt to this change? Of course, it can, because of #Unity. Charot.

Of course not! The current conflict between Ukraine and Russia has made oil and gas importation more difficult for countries all over the world. And though, we want it now, it is won't to happen, yet. Why? What is the current price of electricity, gas, and transportation? May I remind you guys that we are only importing gas from other countries, and how do you run an electric plant? It needs gas. Would it be beneficial? No if the production would cost more than it could sell.

We don't even have enough renewable resources to supply our own electricity.

It would really be chaotic for farmers. And they would just end up, selling their land to those who are willing to buy it and go to the city to work. 🤷 *Hello. Villar is waving*

To tell you more about it, I have made an excel cost of the current price of the rice, which is 50 pesos per kilo vs the 20 pesos per kilo price..

RICE CROP PROFIT FOR FOUR MONTHS FOR 50 PHP PER KILO. WITH FREE FLOW WATER COMING FROM CANALS.

The above values are the cost of planting, harvesting, threshing, and grinding, if you are the one who will pay for the direct cost. I know how much it costs because I help with paying the manpower, buying fertilizer and insecticides. And the total profit estimated is only 28576 pesos, and if you divide it for four months, the income every month is only, 7,144 pesos.

And how much is the average amount for a family to make a living, or make ends meet for a month? According to the survey conducted by PSA last 2018 in Mimaropa (see attached sceen shot below), where my family lives, you need 181,484 pesos a year, or 15,123.16 pesos per month to have a decent life. And lowering it to 20 pesos per kilo would really make us suffer. I realized why I always fund the direct cost of rice planting. It wasn't enough.

And here's the thing, if fertilizer, seeds, irrigation costs, insecticides are provided by the government for free. And assuming that since the economy of our country is on the edge, the manpower or labor cost would be the same as of 2021-2022.

The total net income that my parents would get for their hard work is only 4070 pesos. Four months of planting, cultivating, harvesting and, in the end, the value of your hard work cannot even give you food that will last for a month. And that is really horrifying for my parents and other farmers who only depend on rice planting for their daily needs.

In conclusion;

"Sometimes, we are blinded by empty promises that we mistake fantasy as "change". Thus, so often we fail to see the bigger picture of reality."

I just want to remind everyone that before making any assumptions or claims, we need to research more, compare, and also look into the bigger picture, not only in terms of the beauty of the idea.

We all want change, and the change starts in the voters' hands. So let us choose a good leader with good values and work ethics, who follows and respects the rules of the law and has a strong faith in God.

I don't usually post political related topics, but this topic hits home.

Thank you for reading and reaching this far.

My question is, do you think its practical to have the price of rice lower when our economy is still recovering?

Disclaimer

This article is my perspective regarding the controversial topic of 20 pesos per kilogram of rice, accompanied with data from different respected websites. Anything you think is wrong will be acknowledged in the comment section below.