THE Department of Agriculture (DA) is doing its best to make food affordable to Filipinos and for farmers to make a decent profit from their produce, Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said on Friday.
“The government is actively managing the situation to stabilize the market,” Tiu Laurel said. “Our goal is to strike a balance to ensure that farmers recover [production] costs, while consumers [can buy] rice and onions at reasonable prices.”
His statement comes amid recent reports of spikes in market prices of rice and onion. While the cost of palay (unmilled rice) stabilized after the four-month ban on rice imports ended on Dec. 31, 2025, onions became expensive even as farmgate prices remained low.
The DA previously linked rice price increases to fluctuations in supply and logistical challenges during the Christmas holidays which delayed the arrival of imports. The country has been highly dependent on foreign supply to meet consumption needs, and delays create an immediate, artificial shortage.
Rice prices may normalize by mid-March as imports arrive and harvest season starts, Tiu Laurel said.
Onion price hikes were caused by the delayed release of imported stocks, the DA said. The country has a high but seasonal dependence on imported onions, particularly during offseason (July to December) when local harvests run out.
Accelerating the rollout of the P20-per-kilogram rice (Benteng Bigas, Meron Na!) program nationwide will help ease supply pressures while supporting a reasonable farmgate price for farmers. “This is a critical measure to balance production costs and consumer affordability,” Tiu Laurel said.
Meanwhile, farmers in Nueva Ecija had claimed that an alleged oversupply of imported onions had pushed down farmgate prices. However, an inspection of cold-storage facilities showed limited stocks of imported onions, the DA said, suggesting other market factors were at play.
Reviewing policy measures would help increase onion farmgate prices before the peak of the local harvest season in March and April, the Agriculture department said.
Careful monitoring of food prices and timely interventions will benefit farmers and consumers, the DA added.
