ILOILO City – The National Food Authority (NFA) is encouraging local government units (LGUs) in Western Visayas to allocate funds to increase the buying price of palay from local farmers.
NFA-6 regional manager II Dianne A. Silva said under the Palay Marketing Assistance Program for Legislators and Local Government Units (PALLGU), LGUs shall enter into an agreement with NFA where the former shall provide a premium amount, added to the existing government buying price of palay, currently pegged at P19 per kilogram, when buying the stocks from local farmers.
“With the help of LGUs, ining PALLGU daku gid ang mabulig sa aton mga farmers,” added Silva.
If the buying price of palay from local farmers is increased by at least P1 or P2 per kilogram, farmers will surely recover from their initial costs and will be inclined to sell their harvested rice to the NFA instead of commercial traders at the same price, ranging from P21 to P22 per kilogram.
For Silva, selling palay to the NFA is a noble obligation of local farmers that ensures that the government has enough buffer stock of rice, especially during calamities or disasters.
Currently, five LGUs in the region have entered into an agreement with the NFA and allocated funds for the implementation of PALLGU in their localities:
* Pontevedra, Capiz – allotted P500,000 to procure 10,000 bags of palay at P20 per kilogram, or an additional of P1 per kilogram
* Roxas City, Capiz – allotted P2,000,000 to procure 40,000 bags of palay at P20 per kilogram, or an additional of P1 per kilogram
* Dumarao, Capiz – allotted P100,000 to procure 2,000 bags of palay at P20 per kilogram, or an additional of P1 per kilogram
* Guimaras – allotted P1,500,000 to procure 30,000 bags of palay at P20 per kilogram, or an additional of P1 per kilogram
* Pototan, Iloilo – allotted P1,000,000 to procure 10,000 bags of palay at P22 per kilogram, or an additional of P2 per kilogram
Meanwhile, the towns of Dumangas and Estancia in Iloilo are also interested and discussions with the NFA-6 are ongoing.
“Ang aton buying price is P19 per kilo clean and dry, but with the help of LGUs with PALLGU, nagadugang na sila sang premium nga P1 or P2 per kilo, so mataas-taas ang buying price,” Silva explained.
The NFA-6 officer also hopes more LGUs will enter the agreement so that the agency will have more palay stocks this coming harvest season from August to November. It aims to exceed the 140,000 sacks of palay procured from January to June this year.
“Nami gid nga may buffer stock ta para pagsiling nila nga pag-igu sang drought sa last quarter of this year until first quarter of 2024 may ara kita bugas,” Silva added.
As of now, there are 37,000 bags of rice buffer stock at different NFA-6 warehouses in the region./PN
