LGUs urged to buy low-cost NFA rice

The National Food Authority (NFA) is appealing to local government units to purchase the rice through Food Terminal Incorporated to help decongest warehouses and allow the agency to procure fresh palay and at the same time provide consumers with affordable rice.

NFA Administrator Larry Lacson said while the release of rice in Metro Manila is making progress, warehouses in the provinces are full.

"Ang pinaka critical natin ay ang Mindoro. Ang laki kasi ng production ng Mindoro. At ang Mindoro ang punung puno rin tayo. Ang Region 3, ang Region 2, napakarami Region 2 halos lahat ng bodega puno eh. Yan yung napakalaki, I think number one or number 2 in terms of volume of production," said Lacson.

Lacson explained these warehouses need to release rice otherwise, NFA cannot buy palay from farmers in these areas.

"Ang disadvantage nito nakikita nyo naman yung mga bodega natin punong puno. paano kami makakabili ng marami kung wala kaming paglalagyan? Kung ano mailalabas namin bigas yun din kaya namin ipasok na palay kaya kailangan malabas lahat ito. Supposed to be mamimili kami 545,000 MT ng tons. kung malabas lang namin 100,000 MT eh 'di 100,000 MT lang dapat mabibili namin," he also said.

Currently, the NFA rice stocks are priced at P33 to P35 per kilo through the Department of Agriculture’s Food Terminals Inc. (FTI).

The NFA explained that under the law, they cannot intervene in the market to lower prices for financially-challenged consumers.

But upon the recommendation of the National Price Coordinating Council, the Department of Agriculture (DA) ordered the release of NFA stocks to LGUs and other government agencies to address the sharp rise in rice prices and bring them back to levels seen around July 2023.

According to the NFA, San Juan City has already started pulling out NFA rice stocks while Navotas, Cotabato, and Camarines Sur are expected to do the same.

Lacson appealed to LGUs to purchase rice following the food security emergency declared earlier this month.

"Nilalapit namin sa lahat ng LGUs na malapit na sa mga NFA warehouses na tulungan natin mga consumers makabili ng mura at dekalidad na bigas at the same time tulungan natin mga magsasaka sa locality nila. Napakalaking tulong ng LGU kung sila ay bibili ng bigas para sa kanilang constituents," he added.

This year NFA plans to buy 545,000 metric tons of palay or an equivalent of 312,000 metric tons of rice.

Under the amended RTL, the NFA is required to maintain a buffer stock for 15 days. For this year, the agency needs to procure 545,000 metric tons of palay to maintain a 9-day supply, with a total of 880,000 metric tons needed to meet the 15-day target.

Last week, the DA began releasing NFA rice stocks to LGUs weeks after the declaration of food security emergency, which prompted the grains agency to open its warehouses and sell its stocks in a bid to tame retail prices of the staple.

On February 3, following the recommendation of the National Price Coordinating Council, the DA declared a food security emergency to stabilize rice prices.

The surge in rice prices was triggered by India's ban on the export of non-basmati rice in August 2023 and heightened global demand due to concerns about low harvests from El Niño in early 2024.

The declaration will allow the NFA to sell its buffer stocks to the public to tame the retail prices of the grain. — BAP, GMA Integrated News