Manila, Aug. 25 -- The supply and market prices of local rice will remain unaffected despite the recent effect of inclement weather on palay (unhusked rice) production, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said on Tuesday.

The rice sector incurred the highest chunk of agricultural damage, worth PHP1.07 billion for about 29,482 metric tons (MT) of volume loss due to the combined impact of enhanced southwest monsoon and tropical cyclones Luis, Maymay, and Neneng, according to the DA-Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) Operations Center.

In a phone interview, DA spokesperson Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said the volume loss is lower than the country's annual palay output.

"Itong volume na ito is napakaliit kumpara sa kabuuan...