The Department of Agriculture (DA) has batted for the restoration of some market intervention powers of the National Food Authority (NFA), to be more effective in stabilizing the local rice market.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said in a statement on Sunday, the NFA has remained in need of such powers despite recording a high rice buffer stock, among other operational improvements in 2024.
“We simply cannot fight these battles with one hand tied behind our backs. We need to restore NFA’s powers to regulate rice retail and manage stocks more effectively,” the DA chief said.
Notably, despite the amendment of the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL) late in 2024, the NFA is still restricted from importing rice to boost stocks or directly sell to the public.
Prior to the amendment, the original version of the RTL passed in 2018, liberalized the country’s rice sector and effectively stopped the NFA from importing and directly selling rice stocks to markets.
DA said that as of February 2025, the NFA’s total palay inventory stood at 399,701 metric tons (MT), a volume sufficient to cover eight days of local demand.
The agency described such a volume as a significant improvement from just one day of buffer stock before NFA administrator Larry Lacson started his leadership in March 2024.
NFA added it avoided an estimated P631 million in expenses in 2024 through strategic measures, including the incorporation of the buffer stock incentive for farmers. The agency also implemented a “less movement” policy for rice stocks, reducing logistical costs and saving an additional P172.3 million.
The NFA said these cost-cutting measures helped reduce its deficit, which dropped by 38.4 percent to P3.753 billion in 2024, from 2023’s P6.097 billion.
The agency added it has been restructuring and currently has 543 personnel appointments apart from implementing a fast-lane service for small farmers selling fewer than 50 bags of palay to reduce waiting times.
It added that due to the elimination of the re-bagging requirement for 20 percent of its total palay procurement, it expected savings of around P215.4 million in operational costs in 2025.
For this year, the NFA plans to procure 90 new trucks, and for 2026, an additional 150 trucks, to help address logistical challenges and ensure that farmers, including those in the remote areas, have the opportunity to sell their produce to the government.
For 2025, NFA plans to purchase around 880,000 MT of palay to meet the higher buffer stock requirement of 555,000 MT that would meet 15 days of national rice consumption in the event of emergencies.
DA also emphasized that NFA’s current buying prices of palay from farmers ranges from P17 to P30 per kg.
The country’s grains management agency also recently announced plans to modernize its supply chain by building new post-harvest facilities and minimize annual rice wastage by approximately P10 billion.
