When we, city-dwellers, come to the marketplace, we look for the best but affordable rice. Undoubtedly, Ifugao rice is one of the rarer and better variants. What we do not know, however, is that it is much more expensive than what its city price tag usually says.
We were ourselves pounding rice grains when a local farmer comes to tell us this. She says that in the city, (or to speak more specifically, in the retail level), Ifugao rice is sold at a very cheap price. In fact, Ifugao rice would cost about a hundred pesos per kilo.
It honestly was pretty surprising to hear at first. But if we think about it, this number is justifiable. There are no actual hectares-wide plains in Ifugao; they grow rice only in the terraces. Moreover, the grains need to be carried on shoulders from the terraces to the jeepney stop on the next mountain. Definitely, Ifugao rice can only cost so much.
She adds, however, that they don't sell much of their harvest since what they get from the terraces is really just enough for them. What they have can only provide what they need.
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