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The National Food Authority (NFA) assured farmers that the government would put in place reforms that would make it easier for them to sell their crop to the agency. 

NFA Administrator Larry Lacson noted the agency’s plan to procure vehicles to transport stocks directly from farms to warehouses as part of the proposed 2025 budget to ease the logistical challenges faced by farmers’ cooperatives.

The NFA is also targeting to procure postharvest facilities, including dryers and rice mills, which will enhance rice processing capacity and efficiency.

Lacson said the NFA will continue its “close cooperation” with farmers and other industry stakeholders to effectively respond to challenges and improve agricultural practices and livelihoods across the country.

The NFA chief recently had a dialogue with some NFA Council members in southern Philippines where they also inspected the facilities and rice inventory under the purview of the Department of Agriculture (DA).

“During the dialogue, farmers reported higher agricultural productivity and substantial income increases due to governmental support like subsidies for machinery and seeds and reduced labor costs due to mechanization.”

Vicencio Mahinay, president of the Provincial Farmers’ Action Council in Banaybanay, Davao Oriental, said the pricing strategy was instrumental in bolstering farmers’ incomes. This was echoed by representatives of various farmers cooperative and associations and Irrigators Associations.

Lacson reiterated that the NFA’s palay buying price will remain “competitive.”

“Unless revised by the NFA Council, our ceiling price for clean and dry palay will stay at P30 a kilo.”

As of end-June, the grains agency said it has procured 3.5 million metric tons (MMT) of palay.

In mid-April, the NFA Council raised the buying price of palay to a range of P17 to P30 a kilo from P16 to P23 per kilo to help the agency compete with private traders.

Under the law, the food agency is required to maintain a national buffer stock for rice to cover the requirements of the staple food in case of emergencies.

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) indicated that local traders bought dry unhusked rice at a higher price in June.

A month before the start of the lean season for rice, PSA data showed that the average quotation for dry palay jumped by nearly 28 percent to P24.59 per kilo in June, from P19.23 per kilo a year ago. The lean season for rice is from July to September.

“Farmgate prices refer to the prices received by farmers for the sale of their produce at the first point of sale net of the total marketing cost paid by the farmers,” the PSA said.

“These prices are determined at the farmgate or first point of sale transactions and are also known as ‘producer prices.’”

Source : businessmirror