PALAY PROCUREMENT UP AFTER NFA PRICE INCREASE

THE National Food Authority ( NFA) is stepping up its palay procurement program as more farmers and cooperatives are now selling their produce to the grains agency.

The move follows the NFA Council’s having approved an additional P3 incentive to the agency’s support price.

Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said the NFA was able to procure about 8,000 metric tons ( MT) in less than a week after the agency launched its Buffer Stocking Incentive (BSI) on Oct. 12, 2018 in a bid to boost buffer stocks.

“In just six days after the launching of the buffer stocking incentive of the NFA, it was able to procure close to 8,000 metric tons of paddy rice from farmers in different regions in the country,” he said.

The figure, however, is only 6.16 percent of the NFA’s procurement target for 2018.

The NFA aims to procure 2.6 million bags or 130,000 MT of palay from local farmers nationwide until yearend to boost buffer stock and rice distribution requirements.

Procurement activities in different provinces in the country, particularly Nueva Ecija and Iloilo City, continue to increase which may in turn boost NFA’s buffer stock.

The DA chief noted the delay in the start of the procurement program. “Henceforth, the NFA will focus its resources on local palay procurement,” he added.

Piñol earlier attributed the NFA’s low procurement performance during the summer harvest to the high farmgate price offered by private traders ranging from P20 to P28 per kilogram.

This prompted the NFA Council to raise its buying price of palay from P17/kg to P20.70/kg to be competitive against that of the private traders.

Previously, the NFA’s buying support price was P17/kg for clean and dry palay, with additional incentives of P0.20 to P0.50/kg for delivery; P0.20/kg drying incentive and P0.30/kg for cooperatives or farmers’ organizations.

Meanwhile, NFA Officer- inCharge Tomas R. Escarez is hoping that more farmers nationwide will sell their to NFA to help the agency achieve its procurement target.

“Our 279 buying stations nationwide are now fully operational. We are willing to extend beyond regular working hours to accept deliveries from farmers. If the farmers cannot deliver their palay to our buying stations, we are more than happy to deploy mobile procurement teams to pick up their produce directly from their areas,” Escarez said.