The National Food Authority (NFA) has called on traders not to shortchange farmers by buying palay or unmilled rice at lower prices, as the agency is now working to deploy more trucks to be able to acquire palay directly from farmers at better prices.
NFA administrator Larry Lacson said the NFA has monitored areas where traders have been buying palay from farmers at P11.50 per kilo, with some 32 other areas where buying prices have been reported at P13 to P15 per kilo.
“When I see that, I am saddened because they invest P12 to P14 [per kilo] then they are bought at P13 [per kilo]. In fact we have monitored P11.50 [per kilo], so I said this was not fair.” he told GMA Super Radyo DZBB over the weekend.
The agency buys clean and dry palay at P23 to P30 per kilo, and fresh and wet palay at P17 to P23 per kilo, according to the NFA’s Palay Procurement Activity dated April 18, 2024.
“There are many reasons. First of all, of course the traders know that the farmers do not have a place to sell as NFA warehouses are full. They will say ‘You have no one to sell to, NFA warehouses are full. Let me buy it at this price,” Lacson said
“Secondly, you cannot deny the fact that world prices of rice are quite low, they have dropped, so the millers follow the world prices, so all of these are connected, but [let me] just call for the farmers not to be shortchanged,” he added
The NFA has already bought some 4.6 million sacks of rice, higher than the 3.6 million target of the agency, with the agency planning on procuring more.
To address the low buying price of palay, Lacson said the NFA has freed up warehouses where the newly procured palay from farmers can be stored. It is also fast-tracking the build and repair of some 134 warehouses across the country to increase storage by 800,000 metric tons (MT) by 2028.
Lacson said the agency has just recently cleared up space for 5,000 sacks of rice in its warehouse in San Ildefonso, Bulacan.
The agency has also procured 14 trucks that will be deployed in areas with low buying prices of palay, and acquire these stocks from farmers to be transported into warehouses with capacity. It plans to buy a total of 90 trucks this year, and a total of 600 trucks by 2028.
