A group of farmers on Tuesday asked the Department of Agriculture to reconsider the decision extending the validity of rice import permits which they said will further depress the price of local harvests.
The Federation of Free Farmers said the timing of the 25-day extension was “ill-advised” as farmers would start the dry season harvest in a few months, most likely by March 2021.
It said the bumper harvest in the second semester this year would raise the country’s rice self-sufficiency level despite the successive calamities that befell the country.