By Mary Grace Padin
The National Food Authority (NFA) said on Monday it is targeting to buy as much as 211,290 metric tons (MT) of paddy rice from local farmers under its procurement program this year.
The volume is 3.52 percent higher than the food agency’s target of 204,115 MT last year. In 2015 the NFA purchased 225,000 MT of palay.
“In 2015 we bought around 4.5 million 50 kilogram bags of palay from local farmers, higher than our target of 4 million bags,” NFA Administrator Renan B. Dalisay told the BusinessMirror.
As of March 11, Dalisay said the NFA has already purchased 22,511 MT of paddy rice from farmers, which translates to 11 percent of the procurement target for 2016.
Part of the NFA’s mandate is to purchase paddy rice from farmers to stabilize the supply and farmgate price of the staple. The agency buys palay from farmers at P17 per kg, depending on moisture content.
Citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), Dalisay said the average farmgate price of paddy rice in the country remains stable at P17 to P19 per kg.
However, he said the NFA should always be prepared to serve as “alternative buyer” in case farmgate prices decline.
Data from the PSA also showed that the country’s rice inventory as of February reached 2.94 million metric tons (MMT), 25.2 percent higher than the 2.35 MMT recorded in the same period last year. Of this inventory, the NFA accounted for 995,800 MT.
Earlier, the NFA said the government is not keen on importing more rice in the first quarter, as local supply remains stable, despite the adverse impact of El Niño on rice farms. As of February 18, data from the Department of Agriculture (DA) showed that El Niño has damaged 304,104 MT of crops, valued at P4.002 billion.
DA Field Operation Service Officer in Charge Christopher Morales said 101,553 farmers tilling 194,056 hectares were affected by the drought. The country’s corn sector bore the brunt of El Niño, as it damaged 195,694 MT of standing crops valued at P2.36 billion.
Losses incurred by rice farmers reached P1.62 billion, as the dry spell damaged 94,934 MT of palay. The DA data showed that 40,221 hectares of the 59,463 hectares of rice lands affected have a chance of recovery.