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Manila Bulletin devider Business devider The Economy devider Farmers, farm workers can now buy ₱20 per kilo rice from DA

Farmers, farm workers can now buy ₱20 per kilo rice from DA

Published Aug 13, 2025 02:31 pm
(Santi San Juan/MANILA BULLETIN)
(Santi San Juan/MANILA BULLETIN)
The Department of Agriculture (DA) is expanding access to the government’s ₱20 per kilo rice program, now allowing rice farmers and farm workers who planted the staple to avail themselves of the cheap rice.
In a statement, the DA announced that the rice program will now cover members of the agriculture sector beginning Wednesday, Aug. 13.
The agency said this is part of President Marcos’ initiative to “make rice more affordable for those who grow it.”
Rice farmers and farm workers can now buy rice at just ₱20 per kilo, which is capped at 10 kilos per month or a full 50-kilo sack to cover their allocation from August to December.
To qualify for the program, rice farmers and farm workers must be registered in the DA’s Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA), with the former required to till two hectares or less.
Citing RSBSA data, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel expects around five million farmers and workers to benefit from the ₱20 rice.
“This is one of the many steps we are taking to ease the burden of those who feed our nation and help secure our food supply,” he said.
The DA said it will set up Kadiwa ng Pangulo (KNP) stalls and booths from Food Terminal Inc. (FTI) to distribute the ₱20 rice within the warehouses of the National Food Authority (NFA).
Currently, there are 18 NFA warehouses across Central and Northern Luzon that are selling the cheap rice.
To further expand access, Tiu Laurel said the program will soon expand to other parts of the country and to RSBSA-registered fisherfolk as well.
He said the program will benefit nearly three million fisherfolk once it is rolled out.
The ₱20 rice program was previously limited to senior citizens, solo parents, persons with disabilities (PWDs), recipients of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), and, later, minimum wage earners.
In pursuit of his campaign promise, President Marcos has ordered the DA to scale up the program to reach around 15 million households or about 60 million Filipinos by 2026, with plans to sustain it through the end of his term in 2028.
According to the DA, Marcos has approved an ₱18 billion budget for the program’s rollout next year. This is alongside the proposed ₱9 billion allocation for the NFA’s palay procurement.

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