Philippines : NFA to raise minimum buying price for palay
The Philippines’ National Food Authority will raise its minimum wet palay buying price from P17 to P21 per kg before the September harvest. The government also announced temporary rice import restrictions in Iloilo and expanded processing facilities to support farmers and stabilize prices.
THE National Food Authority ( A) will raise its minimum palay (unmilled rice) buying price ahead of the next harvest in September, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said at the inauguration of a P355.4-million modern rice processing center in Iloilo on Wednesday.
An attached agency of the Department of Agriculture (DA), the A buys palay from local farmers, storing and milling the rice to maintain a national emergency food supply.
“I’ve ordered the A to set the minimum buying price for wet palay at P21 per kilogram (kg) to help address the higher cost of fertilizer and other inputs,” said Tiu Laurel, who also chairs the A Council, the agency’s policymaking body.
The A’s current buying price is P17/kg.
Tiu Laurel had also announced that all Iloilo ports will prohibit the entry of imported rice from mid-September until end-November to prioritize local produce this coming harvest season.
“That is what I can do to ensure that you would earn a decent return from your hard work,” Tiu Laurel told farmers.
The DA said the measures should lift palay farmgate prices and ensure better returns for farmers. The interventions would give the A greater influence over local palay prices, ease competitive pressure from rice importers during harvest season and strengthen farmers’ bargaining position.
Iloilo, the rice bowl of the Visayas, accounts for about half of Western Visayas’ rice production and over 5 percent of the country’s total output.
The new rice processing facility in Dumangas, Iloilo, can turn out 4,800 50-kilogram bags of palay daily.
Its mechanical dryers will allow the A to buy freshly harvested, wet palay at better prices, while its expanded storage capacity should let the agency absorb up to 12 percent of Iloilo’s projected palay output — enough to help stabilize market prices.
Tiu Laurel noted that two more rice processing facilities in Iloilo will operate in time for the October harvest, while a smaller one in Dumangas will be turned over to a farmers’ cooperative.
The A is building 36 of these facilities nationwide to reduce postharvest losses, boost farmer incomes and strengthen food security. Half of the facilities will operate this wet harvest season, with the rest will open in the next dry season harvest in October.
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Source : The Manila Times
