Gary Pekas
By Estanislao C. Albano, Jr.
That’s especially true during the wet season when the eternally depressed prices of rice is compounded by the affects of natural calamities on the quality of the grains. Let’s take the specific case of our harvest this season. When typhoon Juan ripped through the province, the grains were beginning to mature. The winds beat down the crop albeit not flat on the ground like in the cases of other farms in the valley. The non-stop rain episode which hit Northern Luzon not long after typhoon Juan exited flooded some portions of the field so that the grains were soaked for some time. The skies were overcast when the crop was harvested and during the night of the first day, it rained. The field took all of three days to harvest as only seven workers were available and lodged palay takes longer time to reap.
As a result of the lodging and exposure to rain during the harvest, the threshed palay had a smattering of black grains and its moisture content was very high. The overall shade was dull brown as opposed to the bright gold of quality palay.
The threshing was spread over two days due to the schedule of the threshing crew. Hoping against hope that a palay trader would buy the palay fresh, I canvassed for a buyer for the palay threshed on the first day. As much as possible, we avoid drying palay due to the demand on our time and the need for manpower which get scarce during the peak of the harvest season. Palay Trader A was closed it being a Sunday, Palay Trader B rejected it without bothering to look closely at the sample, Palay Trader C said they were not buying the type of palay as they have lots of it to dry, Palay Trader D said he will buy at P10.00 per kilo but that I have to bring the palay to his station because the workers went on leave so they could watch the Pacquiao-Margarito bout, Palay Trader E said he will take it at P10.00, Palay Trader F asked where the palay was so his classifier could make a better sampling and Palay Trader G who is new in the business said he will take it at P11.00 per kilo but I must bring the stock to his station because his boys were also off due to the Pacquiao fight.
Because we did not want to go through the trouble of looking for and paying a truck to transport the stock, we decided to sell to Palay Trader E despite the higher price of Palay Trader G as he had a ready truck and crew. But to my great disappointment, the trader, after extracting samples from the outer sacks with his trier, changed his mind about buying the palay. I did not ask him why he accepted the samples and then is rejecting the delivered stock because I know arguing with him won’t change his decision. Instead, I asked him how much it would cost for his truck to bring the palay to Palay Trader G and he said it’s P10.00 per sack. Alas, Palay Trader G also went back on his word and said that he will get the stock at P9.50 per kilo instead of P11.00 he quoted when he saw the sample. When I phoned my wife about the scaled down price, she said it was too much and that I should just bring the palay home. We no longer hazarded trying our luck with Palay Trader D because, with our experience with the two palay traders who did not have one word, we might just be spending uselessly on the transportation.
Throughout my initial search for a buyer, I have heard the word “slight” spoken by either the classifier or the trader himself in reference to the palay I was selling. I would learn from a palay trader friend later that it meant the grains are not fully crystal but have black or yellow spots.
The only option left for us was to dry the palay and we were fortunate the it did not rain the following day. It did not shine either but the exposure of the palay on the pavement for several hours removed enough moisture to prevent it from germinating even if stored for some days. It also shrunk the stock by three and a half sacks.
In the afternoon, I took a sample of the slightly dried palay and also a sample of the newly threshed palay to the buying stations. Palay Traders A and B said they would have the slightly dried palay at P9.00 per kilo and the newly threshed palay at P11. The judgment rendered by the classifiers of other traders I went to were no better. So my wife said that I will just give the samples to his brother Mike as he knows these things better than I do. Palay Trader H whom I had not yet canvassed told Mike she will buy the slightly dried palay and the newly threshed at P10.00 and P11.00 per kilo, respectively.
The boys of Palay Trader H came for the slightly dried palay at dusk. At the instance of my wife, Mike was the one who went to the buying station. After they left, my wife told me that she did not want the phone to ring as it might be his brother saying that the trader does not want the palay after all. After some minutes, Mike did call to say that the stock has been rejected. In answer to Florence’s query if the palay trader could get it at a lower price, Mike said that she did not want to buy period. The good thing was that the palay trader had given instructions for the hauling of our newly threshed palay. Florence and I went along with them. In the light of a flashlight which we brought, the classifier assessed and pronounced judgment on the stock sack by sack. He stuck his trier into a sack, poured the grains on an unfilled sack on the ground then declared “sango” (front) or “likod” (back) to the boys. He made instructions that the bad stock would be piled at the front of the truck’s box and the good stock at the back. To our dismay, “sango” far outnumbered the “likod.”
Eventually, of the 73 sacks, Palay Trader H only bought 17 sacks but in fairness to her, it was at price agreed upon and she also did not charge for the hauling of the palay she did not buy. .
At the advice of Mike who said that the weather was uncertain, we brought the unsold stock to a grains drier. The owner of the drier assured me that despite the P7,800.00 drying expense, we would still gain some by selling the palay dried. At that time, after going through all that trouble and disappointment in the course of attempting to sell the harvest, all I wanted was to dispose of the stock and that I would be satisfied even if the difference between the price of the pre-dried and dried palay was just enough to cover the drying fee.
After the stock was dried, I went to look for a buyer again. I was stunned when after scrutinizing the sample in his palm, Palay Buyer I said that I should go to his neighbor trader whose classifier quoted P12.00 per kilo. At that point I was already thinking that the decision to dry the palay mechanically was a mistake. In the end, however, I breathed a sigh of relief when Palay Trader A said he would buy the stock at P15.00 per kilo. The problem was that his trucks were busy at the moment and he could only haul the palay two days later. Actually, it was three days after that the trader hauled the palay from the drier thus ending our ordeal this cropping season.
I am hoping that the Aquino Administration is really serious in its avowal to find solutions to the problems of the country’s farmers. I am especially looking forward to the realization of the intent of Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala to lessen the participation of middle men in the marketing of farm produce.
