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Rice
traders aren’t too happy right now with the National
Food Authority (NFA). You see, NFA is mandated to buy
palay at P12 a kilo but, as of last Wednesday, it was
already buying palay at P20.20 in Bulacan. To keep their
supplies open, this means traders have had to match or
exceed NFA’s buying price.
Given
the average recovery rate after milling is only 63
percent, palay purchased at P20.20 a kilo translates to
a retail price for milled rice of about P40 a kilo. But,
as everybody knows, NFA rice is currently selling at
less than P20 a kilo.
Interestingly, per capita rice consumption has increased
from 103.2 kilos in 2004 to 118.2 kilos in 2007, a
period when surveys have shown more Filipinos feeling
that times are harder and they have less to eat.
Last
year, the per capita rice consumption of Indonesia stood
at 120 kilos, while Cambodia’s was estimated at 160
kilos. Both Indonesia and Cambodia registered lower
gross national product growths than the
Philippines.
****
Did you
know 1:
Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap is currently talking to
companies that provide monthly rice allowances to their
employees. In the initial list of companies are San
Miguel Corp. and GMA Network.
Basically, Yap’s out-of-the-box proposal will have
companies buying directly from farmers instead of from
traders.
Here’s
how the proposal works. Companies will subcontract a
group of farmers (read: the list of farmers and where
they are based will be provided by the Department of
Agriculture) to plant rice. This means the companies
will advance farmers the money to buy the necessary
seeds and fertilizers. Come harvest time, the farmers
will sell the rice to their partner-companies at an
agreed upon price, which is expected to be still lower
than the wholesale price.
****
Did you
know 2:
The Land Bank of the Philippines board chaired by
Finance Secretary Margarito Teves is expected to approve
by next week at the latest the guidelines for the
P15-billion credit that will be extended to farmers. Of
the total, P5 billion will go to rice farmers.
The
terms of reference, including interest rates, repaying
terms, and who are qualified, are being checked and
double checked to ensure that the Masagana 99 program
that almost destroyed then government-owned Philippine
National Bank in the 1970s will not be duplicated.
****
There’s
talk that
Calicuan Island,
which form part of Samar province, is quietly developing
into a surfing destination that offers the same perfect
and powerful waves as Siargao but with much more
privacy.
The
waves are found in a spot called ABCD, which is off what
the US Navy called an Advanced Base Construction Depot.
For two years at the end of its involvement in
Vietnam,
the United States maintained a naval base of 120,000
people in this area.
Mind
you, the island’s development should have only one
problem, if any. You see, the island is owned by just
one man. |
