NFA now selling well-milled rice

The National Food Authority (NFA) is now selling well-milled rice in addition to regular milled rice after obtaining permission to do so from the NFA Council.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations defines well-milled rice as “rice grain from which the hull, the germ, the outer bran layers and the greater part of the inner bran layers have been removed but parts of the lengthwise streaks of the bran layers may still be present on not more than 10 percent of the kernels,” as opposed to regular milled rice which allows the presence of bran layer streaks in up to 30 percent of the kernels.

The NFA's well-milled rice, which was released in major wet markets in Metro Manila over the weekend, is sold at P32 per kilogram, compared to regular milled rice, which is sold for P27 per kilogram.

According to NFA Administrator Orlan Calayag, the rice is now being sold in the wet markets of Muñoz, Pritil, Frisco, Trabajo, Paco, Dagonoy and Commonwealth.

Calayag added that while the NFA will prioritize major urban areas when distributing its well-milled rice, stocks will also be distributed to areas where there is a large difference between government and commercial rice prices.

According to the NFA, the country has enough rice stocks to keep prices stable during the lean season of July to September, with stocks currently at 2.4 million metric tons (MT), sufficient for 71 days.

Of the total, 28 percent or 692,800 MT is held by the NFA. Another 32 percent or 776,400 MT is held by the commercial sector, while the remaining 40 percent or 958,200 MT are in households. — BM, GMA News