The National Food Authority said Thursday it would auction around 37,000 metric tons of aging but good-quality milled rice as it prepares to accommodate at least 500,000 metric tons of palay during the coming wet harvest season.
NFA Administrator Larry Lacson said the auction is required by law before the rice stocks become unfit for human consumption.
“Yung ating pangunahing layunin nito ay nakasaad sa batas. We have to auction off before they become unfit for human consumption… Ang second objective nito is of course, mapaluwag yung ating mga bodega in preparation for the next season of harvest,” Lacson said.
He said the rice stocks have an estimated auction value of P1.18 billion. However, only around P65 million worth of stocks were successfully bid out in the first auction. This prompted the NFA to hold a second auction, followed by a negotiated auction for the remaining stocks, according to Lacson.
He said freeing up the 37,000 metric tons would provide around 6.8 percent of the additional warehouse space needed for the incoming harvest, based on the NFA's minimum procurement target of 500,000 metric tons.
“Malaki ang pangangailangan natin for warehouse space. In fact, we are still looking for more warehouse spaces for lease at yung mga ibang warehouse na mahiram sa local government units,” he said.
The NFA currently has 65 leased warehouses that can accommodate around 195,000 metric tons, which, combined with the space freed by the auction, is roughly 46 percent of the warehouse space needed for the wet season harvest, Lacson said.
“But we're confident na ma-hit natin na 100 percent or…kahit 90 percent lang na warehouse space available this coming wet season,” he said.
Lacson said aging rice stocks lose value over time, although the NFA conducts monthly testing to make sure its stocks are safe for human consumption.
“Consequence yan, actually syempre mas lalong maglalaon, mas lalong mag-age. So ang value niya syempre pababa. Yun naman ang cost mo. At yun naman pagdating sa quality, wala naman problema doon kasi every month meron tayong testing na ginagawa just to make sure that the stocks that we have at NFA ay safe,” he said.
Meanwhile, Lacson said the NFA is currently buying off-season palay at between P27 and P30 per kilogram. The agency’s procurement price for the coming wet harvest season is set at P27 per kilogram for clean and dry palay and P21 per kilogram for wet or fresh palay, he said.
Lacson said the government has sufficient funds to support its target of procuring 500,000 metric tons of palay.
“Sa ngayon, ang ating budget merong tayong P9 billion for this year plus merong tayong sumobrang roughly P3 billion from last year so that's P12 billion,” he said.
He said another P10 billion to P13 billion is on standby through the Department of Agriculture in case the NFA needs additional funds to purchase palay.
Lacson said higher palay procurement prices could improve farmers' incomes and encourage them to continue planting.
“‘Yung ating magsasaka, ang epekto niyan, gaganda yung kanilang kita. They will continue to plant more so that ang food security natin medyo secure,” he said.
Lacson also said the auction of aging rice stocks could make cheaper rice available to consumers once the stocks are sold to the private sector.
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