NFA rice buffer stock shoots up

The agency is now preparing for the lean months, from July to early September, and for calamities that may hit the country during the rainy season

The country’s rice supply will remain secure as the National Food Authority (NFA) said it has surpassed its palay procurement target for June by a considerable 140 percent.

NFA had targeted to acquire 261,000 bags of palay in June but actual acquisitions from local farmers nationwide during the month hit 626,100 bags.

“With a very high rate of procurement during the previous months, we were able to raise the NFA’s total palay procurement for the first half of 2019 to 5.412 million bags,” NFA Administrator Judy Carol Dansal said in a statement issued on Thursday.

Overall, the said figures translated to 16 percent increase from the 4.649 million target in the first half of the year. Rice buffer stock continued to increase at the end of the summer season and before the start of the traditional lean months.

“It (the increase) is very favorable because the agency is now preparing for the lean months, from July to early September, and for calamities that may hit the country during the rainy season,” Dansal said.

“I have directed our field offices that at the onset of the lean months, we must ensure availability of rice stocks ready for release anytime, during the occurrence of a calamity or disaster. We have started milling our palay stocks bought from local farmers to have sufficient rice stocks to cover our requirement for emergencies.”

Under the recently enacted Rice Liberalization Law, the NFA is mandated to secure enough buffer stock from local farmers for at least 15 to 30 days. The agency, however, is not allowed to source stock through rice importation

“We have to efficiently manage our stocks properly, both to ensure our financial stability, and to see to it that by the time the main crop harvest starts in September until December, we will be ready again to serve our clients,” Dansal explained.

Currently, low-income consumers can buy NFA rice at P27 per kilogram through authorized market retailers as directed by President Rodrigo Duterte.

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