Palay farmgate price falls 24.6% in 2025

THE farmgate price of dry palay (unmilled rice) dropped 24.6% in 2025 to a national average of P17.70 per kilo, according to preliminary data from the Philippine Statistics Authority.

The highest palay prices in 2025 were posted in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao at P20.67 per kilo, the only region to register a price above P20.

The lowest palay price last year was logged in Calabarzon at P14.14 per kilo, well below the P21.30 average in 2024. The 33.6% decline was the biggest of any region in 2025.

In Central Luzon, the top rice producing region, the average farmgate price of palay in 2025 was P17.13 per kilo, down 28.8%.

Cagayan Valley, another major producer of the staple grain, posted an average farmgate price of P16.48 per kilo, down 30.3%.

The Department of Agriculture said the steep drop in palay farmgate prices was due to excess rice supply following record import volumes in 2024 and large shipments in early 2025. — Vonn Andrei E. Villamiel