THE National Food Authority’s (NFA) ceiling buying price for clean and dry palay will stay at P30 per kilogram, according to Larry Lacson, NFA administrator.
The move will encourage farmers to continue planting in the face of lower tariffs on rice.
The NFA earlier said it will also continue its palay procurement program despite the inclement weather to sustain favorable prices enjoyed by farmers as it builds up buffer stocks to cover rice requirements in case of emergencies.
Last April, the NFA Council raised the buying price of palay to a range of P17 to P30 per kg from P16 to P23 per kg to help the agency compete with private traders.
NFA is required by law to maintain a national buffer stock for rice to cover requirements of the staple food in case of emergencies as the agency have procured a record 3.5 million tons of palay at the end of the first half of the year.
As of end-June, NFA has procured 3.5 million 50-kilo bags of palay, equivalent to 175,000 MT, exceeding the agency’s first-half target of 3.36 million metric tons.
NFA procurement in the first half usually represents 30 percent of total purchases for national reserves to ensure the country has enough rice supply to sustain it for at least nine days in case of emergency based on daily consumption of 36,000 MT.
NFA said its buffer stock, including milled rice, is at 149,000 MT, enough to cover four days of national requirements.
Meanwhile, in a dialogue with members of the NFA Council in Davao Davao Oriental last week, farmers reported higher agricultural productivity and substantial income increases due to governmental support like subsidies for machinery and seeds as well as reduced labor costs due to mechanization.
Lacson announced plans to procure vehicles to transport stocks directly from farms to warehouses as logistical support.
In another development, the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech) inaugurated last week a P56.5 million rice mill designed to help close to 1,000 farmers to increase their income by as much as 30 percent in Ilocos Norte.
Dionisio Alvindia, PhilMech director, said the multi-stage rice mill is part of the P71 million worth of post-harvest facilities turned over to the Piddig Basi Multipurpose Cooperative for the benefit of its nearly 1,100 members who manage 1,400 hectares of rice lands.
PhilMech said the facility also include two recirculating dryers each with a capacity of 12 tons worth P8.1 million and other equipment worth P6.4 million.
Alvindia said the rice mill could process as much as three metric tons (MT) of palay per hour, producing 930 50-kilo bags of rice for an eight-hour run.
“This mill will increase the rice recovery from palay to 65 percent, higher by 7 percentage points compared to the national average of 58 percent. And that means a lot to increasing farmers’ incomes,” Alvindia said.
Every 100 sacks of palay processed by the rice mill will yield 65 bags of rice or seven sacks more compared to the national average.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said increasing machinery use and improving post-harvest facilities would greatly help in achieving government’s goal of increasing food production, ensuring food security and reducing rice importation.
“By deploying better post harvest facilities like dryers, silos and rice mills, we can significantly reduce wastage that would help achieve our trifecta goals of increasing farmers’ incomes, providing consumers with more affordable food choices and preserving foreign exchange by reducing food imports,” Tiu Laurel said.
