Stakeholders have criticized the government’s plan to import 330,000 metric tons (MT) of rice to fill up the expected deficit in National Food Authority’s (NFA) buffer stock, saying it is not necessary and would only erode farmers’ incomes.
The Office of the President announced last Friday the import plan to help stabilize the cost of rice and limit the upward pressure on inflation.
Jayson Cainglet, Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura executive director, said there is no need to import as current rice stocks are good until August.
Cainglet said private importation has not stopped which will further fill the country’s buffer stocks.
Cainglet said importation will only help foreign traders and importers.
He said NFA has a P9 billion budget; and if for buffer stocking or emergency purposes, it can ask for additional funds.
The price of imported rice has also increased to a range of $490 to $520 per MT or around P36 per kilo landed cost, which is more expensive than locally-sourced rice.
“NFA will save more if they buy from farmers at P20 to P21 per kg of palay,” Cainglet added.
The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) said the country’s current buffer stock is at 51 days, or lower than the ideal 90 days, attributed by the NFA to low rice importation.
KMP said NFA’s proposal contradicts the declaration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and concurrent agriculture secretary that the domestic rice supply is sufficient.
The group also said current palay farmgate prices are at P23 per kg for dry and P18.50 to P19 per kg for fresh but the NFA buys palay only at P19 per kg.
KMP earlier proposed to increase the NFA buffer stocking fund to P79.8-billion for the procurement of at least 20 percent of the estimated 19.96 million MT of local palay production from local farmers at the farm gate price of P20 per kilo.
The Amihan National Federation of Peasant Women and rice watch group Bantay Bigas said the average NFA local palay procurement from 2018 to 2022 is only at 2.3 percent of the average annual production.
The groups cited the need to review and repeal the Rice Liberalization Law and pushed for an alternative law, the Rice Industry Development Act whose provisions would include production support, higher farmgate price of palay and strengthening of the NFA to increase local palay procurement and distribution of cheaper retail prices of rice, and protection of rice lands from land use conversion.
