The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
Given more than enough budget, the National Food Authority wants to buy from 545,000 metric tons to 870,000 metric tons of palay from local farmers, at competitive rates for 2025. Last year, the NFA Council raised the palay procurement price range to P23-P30 per kilo for clean and dry rice; and P17 per kilo for wet palay. Previously, palay buying prices ranged from P16 to P23 per kilo.
In an interview with Business Mirror NFA Administration Larry Lacson said it is seeking a bigger budget so that it can buy as much as 870,000 MT of palay this year to ensure better prices for local farmers.
But for now, it has yet to dispose cheap but “aging” buffer stocks of 350,000 MT of rice, which it would sell to local governments and the uniformed services..
It wants to beef up its buffer stocks as mandated by the Rice Tariffication Law– although these stocks are mostly intended for emergencies like natural calamities.
Under the amended RTL, the NFA should now maintain a buffer stock enough to cover 15 days of national rice consumption, up from the previous nine-day requirement.
NFA said that with an average of 37,000 MT of national rice consumption daily, the additional six days of reserve would require the agency to procure roughly 300,000 MT of palay from local farmers at around P23 per kilo.
Lacson said the initial allocation of P9 billion for palay procurement this year should be doubled to achieve its new buffer stocking requirement.
“We were initially allocated a budget of P9 billion for buffer stocking this year, based on the 9-day requirement. But the additional 6 days will necessitate an extra P9 billion for palay procurement, considering that our palay price procurement per kilo increased in 2024,” he said in a statement.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) started to release NFA’s old stocks to local government units (LGUs) following the declaration of a food security emergency on rice. NFA had planned to release around 25,000 MT per month during the food security emergency, noting that such volume could be increased if needed.
“With the P9 billion allocated by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for NFA’s rice procurement this year, and the remaining funds from last year’s record purchases, we aim to buy even more palay from farmers,” said DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr.
The DA recently declared a food security emergency in its bid to stabilize rice prices upon the recommendation of the National Price Coordinating Council (NPCC). Such a declaration allows the agency to release rice buffer stocks held by the NFA.
A report from ABS CBN sad DA is investigating complaints that some rice stocks released to Kadiwa had “bukbok” or weevils in Murphy market in Quezon City. “Based sa feedback of buyers, they saw bukbok with one buyer returning the sack that he bought from Kadiwa stall of Murphy market,” said Neil Sañoza, cashier at the Kadiwa Stall of Murphy Market.
Sañoza said several sacks had insects in it, and noted that rice quality was generally better before its price was lowered from P40 per kilogram. The DA said it will check the incident but maintained that rice sold in Kadiwa undergo rigorous testing.
DA spokesman Arnel de Mesa claimed the stocks underwent rigorous inspections by the NFA and Food Terminal Inc. “This could be an isolated case since other Kadiwa stalls are selling rice at good quality,” de Mesa added.