Agriculture officials in the province of North Cotabato have called for a meeting to address the continuous drop of buying price of rubber cup lump.
Engineer Eliseo Magliwan, North Cotabato provincial agriculturist, said his office is gathering farmers engaged in rubber production and rubber buy-and-sell business to discuss what could be done to normalize prices of raw rubber products.
North Cotabato is the leading rubber producer in SOCCSKSARGEN region and second in the whole of Mindanao but farmers have been complaining of the “sorry” buying price of rubber products.
Magliwan admitted that the prices of rubber have slumped over the years due to market forces.
Rubber products in Mindanao are exported to Europe and its prices depend on the international market.
The prevailing buying price of rubber per kilo in North Cotabato is between P26 and P29, way below the prices about five years ago when the buying price then was P38 to P40 a kilo.
Magliwan maintained that the prices are being dictated by the international market and brushed aside reports some groups are manipulating the prices locally.
One of the options the provincial agriculture office is considering is to come up with a consensus among buyers of raw rubber products and agree on specific price “to help rubber farmers.”
Celestino Sarmiento, a rubber tapper of Makilala, North Cotabato, said if nothing has been done on the prices of rubber, the industry will die and many farmers who are dependent on rubber production will suffer.
”We appeal to the government to help us stabilize the farmers,” he said, adding that few years back, many rice and corn farmers converted their farm lots into rubber plantations expecting higher yields.
Magliwan appealed to the farmers to attend the gathering on May 15 to discuss solutions that will help them.