NFA breaches palay procurement target

MANILA, Philippines — The National Food Authority (NFA) continues to improve its local procurement of palay (unhusked rice), breaching the four million mark amid the peak of the summer harvest season and higher buying price.

Latest reports from the NFA Grains Marketing and Operations Department showed that the grains agency already procured a total of 4.02 million bags from January to May 20, a huge jump from the 71,420 bags bought during the same period last year.

The NFA procurement activities are revitalized by the agency’s new buying price, which increased from P17.70 to P20.70 per kilogram for clean and dry palay.

“More farmers are selling to NFA because we have increased our effective buying price. We are also more aggressive in palay procurement because under the Rice Tariffication Law, the agency can only source its buffer stock from local farmers,” NFA officer-in-charge administrator Tomas Escarez said.

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed that the average farmgate price of palay on the third week of May was only at P18.45 per kilo, while some areas dropped to as low as P14 per kilo.

The price level is 12 percent lower than the average farm gate price of P20.97 per kilo in the same period last year.

Meanwhile, highest volume of palay procurement was reported in Occidental Mindoro, Nueva Ecija, Isabela, Bulacan, Tarlac, Cagayan, Mamburao, North Cotabato, Cagayan, and Sultan Kudarat.