A growing number of rice farmers are sounding the alarm over the unsustainably low farmgate prices, warning that the situation may soon drive many of them out of the industry entirely.

Following earlier reports of palay prices plunging to as low as P8 per kilo in several provinces, new insights from farmer groups and cooperatives paint an even grimmer picture of the crisis deepening across Central and Northern Luzon.

Raul Montemayor, national manager of the Federation of Free Farmers Cooperatives Inc., confirmed that the glut of palay — especially undried palay — is dragging prices down in places like Nueva Ecija and Bicol.

“Most palay has already been harvested and some areas have started replanting,” Montemayor said in Filipino.

“But because prices dropped so much, some farmers held on to their harvest, hoping prices would go up. Unfortunately, that backfired. Instead of rising, prices fell even further,” he added.

Montemayor noted that while rice imports have eased slightly, the government’s release of P20-per-kilo rice to the market — often with the participation of local governments — is creating unintended consequences.