Rice is, perhaps, the grain least likely to be affected by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, strength in prices across the grains and oilseeds index, because of the major role of both countries in the wheat market and that of Ukraine in sunflowers, has crossed over to rice, pushing prices up, although ample supplies have held back the increase.

THE Department of Agriculture (DA) said it is preparing for any inflation fallout from the invasion of Ukraine by allocating more funds to fertilizer subsidies, while arranging for more financing to provincial local government units (LGUs) seeking to procure and stock up on rice.