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THE
Department of Agriculture DA is set to ask the national
government to possibly double its P8.5-billion budget
for procurement after the National Food Authority (NFA)
doubled its palay-buying target to 1 million metric tons
(MMT) during the palagad or main harvest.
Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said the NFA has
doubled its procurement target for the last quarter of
2008 on the back of expectations of a good harvest in
major rice-producing provinces across the country.
The DA
is confident paddy rice production for the main harvest
will hit the 10-MMT mark.
“With
the increase in palay procurement target of NFA, we also
need to double the fund allocation so that buying will
go on smoothly and successfully,” said Yap.
A total
of P8.5 billion had been allotted as Cereal Procurement
Fund for buying 500,000 MT of palay during the main
harvest.
Yap said he is scheduled to meet with concerned funding agencies
to ensure the availability of money required for the
NFA’s aggressive palay-buying operations during the main
harvest, which will peak between October and December.
NFA
Administrator Jessup Navarro said the agency has already
bought a total of 485,628 bags of palay from individual
farmers and farmer organizations as of August,
representing a 404-percent accomplishment over the
target of 120,000 bags for the month. From January to
August, the NFA’s palay procurement totaled 852,279 bags
or 108 percent more than the target of 409,200 bags for
the period.
With its
aggressive palay-buying operations, the NFA said it is
confident imports for next year will be lower than the
2.3 MMT it bought for this year to plug the production
shortfall and beef up the buffer stocks of the agency.
“With
the increase in palay support price and additional cash
incentive, the NFA sees a much bigger volume of
procurement this year to ensure a safe level of stocks
and lesser imports for next year,” said Navarro.
He also
said he has instructed all field offices to aggressively
campaign among farmers to sell their produce to the NFA
and take advantage of the government’s procurement price
of P17 per kilogram and a cash incentive of P1,800 for
every 50 bags of palay sold to the agency.
Meanwhile, the NFA is encouraging farmers to avail
themselves of an NFA passbook so they may sell their
palay to the agency.
The
passbook records the volume of palay sold to the NFA and
serves as a safety measure to ensure that only
legitimate farmers will transact business with the
agency.
To avail
themselves of a passbook, the NFA’s Navarro said
individual farmers only need to submit a certification
from the municipal agriculture officer indicating the
farm hectarage being tilled and the volume being
harvested. |
