BACOLOD City – To help Negros Occidental farmers recover from recent adverse weather conditions, the National Food Authority (NFA) has started buying unhusked rice, or palay, from them.
Under the Palay-Marketing Assistance Program for Legislators and Local Government Units (PALLGU), the NFA offers P23 per kilo for clean and dry palay.
Moreover, local government units (LGUs) will contribute an additional sum to this base price, said Glenda Paz, acting manager of NFA-Negros Occidental.
Wet palay prices will range between P16 to P19 per kilo, with LGUs providing an extra P1 to P3, contingent on their available resources.
Highlighting the initiative’s early support, Paz mentioned that the local government of Valladolid was the pioneer backer of the PALLGU program, supplementing P1 for every kilo of palay procured by the NFA from its resident farmers.
The NFA will subsequently supply the acquired palay to the Department of Social Welfare and Development, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, and PALLGU-affiliated LGUs, ensuring food security during calamities.
On Sept. 18, the NFA Council, helmed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., revised the palay purchase rates with the intent to boost farmers’ earnings. Marcos announced a price augmentation for dry palay from P19 to P23, and for wet palay from P16 to P19. This move aims to ensure a fair income for Filipino farmers.
However, the NFA bucked on earlier proposed rates of P20 and P25, deeming them excessively high. Such rates could lead to elevated retail prices. The newly determined price spectrum is viewed as a balance, ensuring farmers’ profitability without exerting undue pressure on retail prices. (Watchmen Daily Journal/with additional insights from the Philippine News Agency)/PN
