The ban was implemented in the last four months of 2025.
According to the Department of Agriculture (DA) on Friday, the average farmgate prices of palay “climbed steadily” following President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s decision to suspend rice importation in the last few months of the prior year specifically ftom September to December 2025.
The department said that this reflects tighter domestic supply conditions and improved bargaining power for farmers. Notably, the recovery also follows several years of changing market conditions.
Citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the DA said that palay farmgate prices remained strong in 2023 and increased further during the 2023–2024 Dry Season, when dry palay prices exceeded PHP22 per kilo and peaked above PHP25 per kilo in some months.
However, following the reduction of rice tariffs from 35 percent to 15 percent in late 2024, rice import volumes increased significantly, resulting in domestic oversupply.
As a result, this led to rice produced by local farmers to go down to just PHP14 to PHP16 per kilo, with prices reached a low of about PHP15.80 per kilo in September 2025 before starting to recover toward the end of the year.
By December 2025, average prices had rebounded to around PHP18 per kilo, furthered the agriculture department.
The new year saw prices climbing to PHP15.81 on January 6, to PHP17.47 by January 22. The following day,bJanuary 30, traders were paying PHP18.42 per kilo—28 percent higher than early September levels.
Prior to the import suspension, falling palay prices had resulted in financial losses for farmers and weakened incentives for planting and production.
Dry palay prices also posted a sustained improvement—from PHP17.67 per kilo at the start of September, prices had already reached PHP21.52 by the end of the month.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. noted, “In 2024, total rice imports surged to 4.8 million metric tons, about 1 million to 1.2 million metric tons more than what the country actually needs.”
zExcess importation undermines the profitability of rice farming by depressing palay prices at harvest time and discouraging production,” continued the DA chief as he emphasized that the administration’s objective is calibration, not protectionism.
“Striking the right balance ensures gains for everyone in the rice value chain—farmers, traders, millers, and consumers—while safeguarding national food security. We must align imports with real supply gaps, not overshoot them.”
