Farmers Earned More in 2024 Despite Higher Palay Cost – PSA

Rice farmers still had higher income last year despite spending more to produce a kilo of palay, thanks to higher farmgate prices that mitigated an uptick in labor costs.

- By Jasper Emmanuel Arcalas

On average, farmers spent P14.52 to produce a kilo of palay last year, at least seven percent more than the recorded cost of P13.54 per kilo in 2023, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Despite the increase in cost, palay farmers still earned more as they received P0.61 for every kilo of palay sold last year, compared to the P0.47 net profit-cost ratio in 2023.

Cost-wise, farmers spent P59,695 on average per hectare for palay, which was 5.67 percent higher than the previous P56,491 average total cost.