NFA Funding

The National Food Authority (NFA) says it will need to secure additional funding to cover the increase in the national rice buffer stock mandated under the amended Rice Tariffication Law. NFA administrator Larry Lacson says a new provision in Republic Act 12078, signed into law by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. last month, requires the government agency to maintain a buffer stock sufficient to cover 15 days of national rice consumption, up from the previous 9-day requirement. With national consumption averaging 37,000 metric tons of rice daily, the additional six days of reserve will require the NFA to procure about 300,000 metric tons of palay from local farmers at an estimated price of P23 per kilogram.