PH Government Looking for Ways To Lower Costs of Rice
PH GOVERNMENT – The Philippine government is eyeing “Masagana 150” to lower the prices of rice in the country.
Currently, many Filipinos are dealing with financial challenges due to the high costs of fuel, basic goods and commodities, and other products in the country. The oil price hikes started in January and it is a global oil problem.
The series of oil price hikes caused the prices of diesel and gasoline to go past P90 per liter in some fuel stations in the previous weeks. The recent rollbacks in the prices pulled the prices lower.
However, currently, many Filipinos are having a hard time coping with the high costs of rice. A lot of Pinoys are looking forward to the aspiration of President Bongbong Marcos to lower the prices of rice to P20 per kilo.
However, several authorities said that reducing the price of rice to P20 per kilo may be hard to achieve and is not possible anytime soon. Meanwhile, the PH government now has a plan in the pursuit to lower the prices of rice in the Philippines.
Based on a report on ABS-CBN News, the PH government is eyeing “Masagana 150” program to lower the prices of rice in the country. It aims to produce 150 cavans of harvest per hectare.
According to the report, the late former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. had a program in line with rice production – the Masagana 99. It aimed to give farmers high-yielding varieties of rice through loans.
With regards to the Masagana 150 program, Department of Agriculture Undersecretary Kristine Evangelista said that “new tech” will be employed to raise the production of rice. She stressed that they are already checking as to when and how the program will be implemented.
“We plant in October, we harvest next year. To manage expectations, it’s not going to be harvested this year. If Masagana 150 will be implemented, we’re looking at it to bring down the price of rice and helping our farmers come up with better yield,” Evangelista said.
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