ILOILO – Farmers in Western Visayas are being encouraged to sell their rice harvest to the National Food Authority (NFA) to earn higher.
According to Jasmin Lintag, regional manager of NFA, the prices offered by the agency are higher compared to private millers.
The NFA is currently purchasing fresh and wet palay (un-husked rice) at prices ranging from P17 to P23 per kilogram, while clean and dry palay is being bought at P23 to P30 per kilogram.
Interested farmers may visit NFA provincial branches to submit their documentary requirements, or they may contact the NFA hotline at 0917-113-9347.
First-time sellers must present documents such as a certification proving their residency in the barangay or a certification from the Municipal Agriculturist Office (MAO) that provides information on the farmer’s name, address, number of hectares of land, and yield per hectare.
“These requirements ensure that the NFA is buying palay from legitimate local farmers,” Lintag explained.
Currently, the NFA is storing 1.4 million bags (50 kilograms per sack) of palay in 17 different warehouses across the region, including Bacolod City and Negros Occidental.
Lintag added that NFA’s purchasing of palay continues, especially with the rollout of the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) Food Security Emergency Program. The program has identified local government units (LGUs) as recipients for purchasing rice from the NFA.
Under the program, the LGUs can purchase rice through the Food Terminal Incorporated (FTI), which acts as a conduit. In the region, three LGUs have been identified as recipients: the Iloilo City Government, Bacolod City Government, and the Negros Occidental Provincial Government, including its 32 municipalities, which have seen an “extraordinary spike” in the price of commercial rice.
Each of the three LGUs will receive rice from the NFA, with Iloilo City and Bacolod City receiving 8,000 bags per month, and Negros Occidental receiving 50,000 bags per month. The NFA is selling the rice to the LGUs at P33 per kilogram, with the LGUs allowed to sell it to their constituents at prices ranging from P33 to P35 per kilogram./PN
