Piñol taps FTI, NTA to aid troubled poultry growers

MANILA, Philippines — Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol wants two agencies attached to the Department of Agriculture (DA) to mobilize their resources to buy excess chicken production from farmers and sell directly to the public.

In a post on his official social media account, the agriculture chief said the Food Terminal Inc. (FTI) and the National Tobacco Administration (NTA) has the funds, facilities and logistics network to ease the ill-effects of supply glut among poultry raisers.

DA has also asked the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to provide a supplemental budget for the intervention.

Farmgate prices of chicken, he said, have fallen to P38 per kilogram as the domestic poultry sector saw a huge increase in production just as a large volume of imported chicken arrived in time for the holidays.

Poultry growers, he said, have also complained of the huge discrepancy between farmgate price and the price of dressed chicken.

In a letter to NTA administrator Robert Seares, Piñol asked the agency for the use of the accumulated remittances from the collection of excise taxes on tobacco products amounting to P70 billion, held in a special account with the Bureau of the Treasury.

The remittances can only be used by the NTA upon submission of the project proposal and approval by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

As the DA would need P1.3 billion to purchase the oversupply from farmers and operate storage facilities, it asked the DBM for a supplemental budget for the emergency purchase of excess production until farmgate prices stabilize in three to four months.

“The DA has already identified a ready market for the poultry products which is willing to post a performance bond to guaranty the sales thereof after said period,” Piñol said.

NTA also has poultry processing plants and cold storage facilities that were asked to be used to store the procured excess poultry inventory.

Meanwhile, Piñol also asked the FTI to use its available funds, food storage facilities and logistics network for the procurement, storage and distribution of excess poultry supply.

FTI was also directed to expedite the planned establishment of regional food terminals in the country that contain buying, processing, storage and selling areas for farm products.

“This project will have a big role in maintaining the stability of supply and prices of agricultural products and will surely help the farmers of our country in terms of assured income and self-sufficiency,” Piñol said.

Excess produced procured directly from farmers are planned to be released to the market middle of the year when there would be less supply in the market.

“The plans were approved by the boards of both FTI and NTA, an agency involved in the tobacco industry but which established a poultry dressing plant and cold storage facility in the North as a livelihood program to support tobacco farmers,” Piñol said.

While NTA would still have to await project approval from the DBM, FTI would already start buying from poultry farmers as soon as they are able to identify a dressing plant and cold storage facility which could accommodate the stocks, he said.

Earlier this month, Piñol said poultry growers should agree to increase the farm gate price of chicken by at least P10 every week, with the price increase  implemented until it reaches a certain level wherein poultry raisers would no longer be losing money in their operations.

The Philippine Competition Commission, however, earlier said this may be considered anti-competitive and illegal under the Philippine Competition Act.

It urged instead the implementation of pro-competitive forms of assistance such as access to agricultural credit or the provision of research and extension services to boost the productivity of poultry raisers.