NFA palay procurement hits 9.1 MMT as of end-Oct
Credit to Author: Eireene Jairee Gomez| Date: Tue, 05 Nov 2019 16:21:47 +0000
THE National Food Authority’s (NFA) palay (unmilled rice) procurement has reached 9.1 million metric tons (MT) as of October 31, higher by 2,320 percent from 375,980 MT recorded a year ago, an official of the agency said.
In October alone, the grains agency was able to purchase palay from local farmers reaching 2.1 million MT, up 614 percent from 294,000 MT in October 2018, Lemuel Pagayunan, department manager for NFA Grains Marketing and Operation, told The Manila Times.
At the rate the agency is procuring locally-produced palay, he said the NFA’s 2019 target would “likely be attained.”
“The way we’re looking at it, even if we will fall short, it will only be at a minimal volume. In fact, in
Nueva Ecija, the farmers were already scheduled to bring in their palay until December,” Pagayunan said.
For this year, the NFA is targeting to procure 723,000 MT or about 15 million bags of locally-produced palay.
Citing the latest data from the NFA, Pagayunan said the highest palay procurement as of October 31 was recorded in Region 3 (Central Luzon) with a total of 2.3 million MT. This was followed by Region 2 (Cagayan Valley) at 1.5 million MT, Region 5 (Bicol) at 1.3 million MT, and Region 1 (Ilocos) at 1.1 million MT.
Meannwhile, Region 6 (Western Visayas) contributed 700,000 MT; Region 7 (Central Visayas), 7,700 MT; Region 8 (Eastern Visayas), 29,000 MT; Region 9 (Zamboanga Peninsula), 102,000 MT; Region 10 (Northern Mindanao), 500,000 MT; Region 11 (Davao), 430,000 MT; Region 12 (Soccsksargen), 900,000 MT; Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, 160,000 MT; and Caraga region, 100,000 MT.
The NFA buys clean and dry palay at P19 per kilo (kg) with incentives up to P0.70/kg.
It recently started buying wet palay with up to 30-percent moisture content, as well as palay with lower classification, based on the agency’s equivalent net weight table. Originally, the NFA buys locally-produced palay meeting the 14-percent moisture content requirement.
Under Republic Act 11203, or the “Rice Tariffication Law,” the NFA will no longer be allowed to import rice as its role was confined to buffer-stocks management for emergencies and calamities by buying palay solely from local farmers.
The grains agency is also mandated to maintain a 15-day rice reserve at any given time and a 30-day buffer stock during the lean planting season.