Palay (unmilled rice) —INQUIRER file photo
The National Food Authority (NFA) increased its palay (unmilled rice) purchases by more than 400 percent in September, although it fell short of its target procurement due to good harvest and competitive buying prices.
In its accomplishment report, the NFA said it purchased 768,359 bags (38,417 metric tons) of palay in September, an increment of 439.6 percent from 142,388 bags (7,119.4 MT) in the same period a year ago.
“Increase in the procurement as compared to the preceding months can be attributed to the good harvest of the main cropping season and the implementation of the Council-approved Price Range Scheme (Prices) for palay procurement activity,” the NFA said.
Under this scheme, the buying price of palay per province is set at a competitive price that is at par or above the prevailing ex-farm price. It is adjusted weekly.
Earlier, the NFA adjusted the buying price of palay, now at P23 to P25 per kilogram, to help reduce the retail price of the staple food while fulfilling its mandate.
Despite the significant increase, the grains agency attained 43 percent of its target to buy 1.79 million bags (89,336 MT) of palay from local farmers.
The grains agency distributed 39,867 bags (1,993 MT) of milled rice, representing 13.6 percent of the target of 292,975 bags (14,648 MT).
Of these, 26,840.5 bags were allotted to government agencies and rice requirements of local government units under Executive Order No. 51 signed in 1998.
Per the EO, the NFA is the primary source of rice for government entities that either grant rice as a form of incentive or benefit to their employees or use rice in connection with their functions.
Some 13,026.5 bags were given to the Department of Social Welfare and Development, the Office of Civil Defense, legislators and LGUs for relief operations or calamity response.
“Sales to other government agencies for non-calamity purposes were calibrated due to low inventory level of rice stocks, hence low distribution accomplishment,” it added.
As of end-September, the NFA has a total expected milled rice inventory of 3,448,747 bags (172,437 MT).
The NFA’s stockpile accounts for only 9.1 percent of the nationwide rice inventory.
Last month, the NFA secured another P9 billion from the Department of Budget and Management to build its buffer stocks for calamity efforts, which would be released in equal installments over the last three months of the year.
It earlier disclosed plans to procure 6.4 million bags to 8.7 million bags of palay for the wet season as part of its mandate under the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL).
The NFA had said the additional funding could help support farmers during the wet season when palay prices typically decline because of increased harvests and limited drying facilities.