C.Visayas rice supply sufficient

CEBU CITY – The rice supply in Central Visayas is sufficient for 64 days, with an industry inventory of 2,112,344 bags at a daily rice consumption of 33,019 bags.

Procopio Trabajo II, regional director of the National Food Authority (NFA) in Central Visayas, said the inventory consists of the rice supply from NFA at 305,829 bags, commercial establishments with 565,423 bags and households at 1,241,092 bags.

Tabajo said the inventory is sufficient because rice shipments ordered by the private/commercial sector mostly from Vietnam usually arrive in December.

“The Philippines is expecting an arrival of about 250,000 metric tons of rice supply within the month (December) estimated at five million bags,” Trabajo said during a recent Kapihan forum.

Although NFA’s inventory is only good for nine days, he assured the public that there will be no rice shortage. Trabajo added that NFA is also expecting the approval of its request from the NFA rice importation council for the purchase of 350,000 metric tons of rice by January.

He said he is not comfortable with NFA’s “thin” inventory because of climate change and the string of storms during the NovemberDecember period.

Trabajo said government agencies and local government units rely on NFA for their rice supply during calamities and disasters.