If you are planning to make rice dumplings for the Dragon Boat Festival that's coming around, then be prepared to pay more than what you have in mind. The production of sticky rice is not only on a decline this year, but the price is now up by 6 NT dollars per catty.

Since the Dragon Boat Festival is coming soon, the demand of sticky rice is rising given the reduced production of locally grown sticky rice.

Because of that, the prices continue to rise and have set a new high record in the past ten years.

Originally the price of locally grown sticky rice is 29 NTD per catty and has now up to 35 NTD.The news upsets housewives who need to make rice dumplings for the holiday.

According to a statistics by the Council of Agriculture, the demand of round and long stick rice per year is 80,000 tons.

But the profits were low in the past two years, farmers are less interested in growing them.

So the production of locally grown long sticky rice was down by more than 5,000 tons, which seriously affected local supply in the market.

The prices of sticky rice from Thailand and Vietnam are also going up slightly.

Since the dragon boat festival is around the corner, the agriculture and food agency is releasing more than 2,000 tons of public grain to make up the insufficiency.

Asked when the prices would return to normal, the agency says it would only be possible after the end of May when new rice is harvested.