The Department of Agriculture (DA) is negotiating with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for a loan of up to $500 million for a project to build post-harvest facilities for rice, as well as dryers and mills to support the operations of the National Food Authority.
DA Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa, in a virtual briefing yesterday, said the project also aims to cover rice cooperatives and associations starting next year or by 2027, depending on results of studies being conducted by Sanyo, JICA’s hired consultant.
“Yesterday, we also discussed details of the projects and the best way forward. We have agreed to some steps needed to pursue this project. This could be about P11 billion to $200 to $500 million, depending on what we can negotiate,” de Mesa said, adding that funding will be through a loan.
Nationwide project
This project is eyed “all throughout the country, this is nationwide, mostly in rice producing areas to support NFA’s operations. Especially now that they will expand procurement,” de Mesa said.
The projects, he added, will particularly help the NFA comply with the amended Rice Tariffication Law, which mandates the agency to procure a total of 880,000 metric tons of palay (unhusked rice) to meet the new buffer stock requirement of 15 days.
De Mesa is part of a DA delegation currently in Japan to pursue possible agricultural partnerships with the Japanese government.
Earlier this year, Malaya Business Insight reported NFA’s plan to pursue a P10 billion modernization program to enhance rice storage capacities, build new rice mills to upgrade drying facilities, improve rice recovery and increase farmers’ profitability.
The agency said the initiative is funded through government allocations, with half of the budget granted late last year and the remaining P5 billion included in this year’s national budget.
NFA recently said that while its current storage capacity stands at 1 million MT, varying rice stock quality and age often hinder full utilization.
However, NFA Administrator Larry Lacson said even with increased storage capacity, there is still need for regulatory reforms to improve the management of rice buffer stocks and regularly free up storage space for the procurement of palay.
“Ideally, one-twelfth of our buffer stocks should be disposed of each month to facilitate better reserve management,” he said.
