The National Food Authority said Tuesday it bought 1,012,172 bags of unmilled rice from farmers from January to November this year.
The agency said it bought 926,854 bags or 92 percent of the total in October and November, and this was after it introduced an additional P3 per kilogram buffer stocking incentive (BFI) on top of its support price of P17 per kilogram on Oct. 12.
The NFA said the cumulative procurement total without BSI from January to September was only 85,318 bags, but for November alone it was able to buy 630,934 bags of unmilled rice from the top rice-producing provinces of Mindoro Occidental, Batangas, Mindoro Oriental, Bukidnon, Isabela, Capiz, Iloilo, North Cotabato, and Camarines Sur.
NFA Administrator Tomas Escarez said the remarkable rise in procurement could be attributed to the agency’s additional P3 per kilogram incentive on top of its P17 per kilogram support price and up to P0.70 per kilogram delivery, drying and cooperative incentives.
“This means that given the right price, the NFA will be able to buy more from our farmers,” Escarez said.
The P3 per kilogram BSI is given across-the-board based on the NFA’s table of Equivalent Net Weight (ENW) parameters for moisture content and purity. For clean and dry unmilled rice, the total buying price of the NFA may now reach as much as P20.70 per kilogram. PNA
“With the additional P3/kg incentive, we were able to entice more farmers to sell their harvest to us. At a time when private traders were buying at P20.28 or lower than the NFA buying price, our farmers decided to sell to us instead,” Escarez said.
He said the NFA serves as the buyer of last resort to provide a fair income to farmers.
“In fact, the NFA is here to encourage traders to buy high to the benefit of farmers,” he said.