NFA intensifies corn purchase from farmers

THE National Food Authority (NFA) is conducting intensive buying of corn in major producing regions as it had earlier committed to do. 
NFA administrator Jessup P. Navarro said the NFA is targeting to buy 4.6 million bags of yellow corn grains equivalent to P2.8 billion and 1.3 million bags of white corn grains worth P892 million until December this year.
Navarro said that by end of July, cumulative corn procurement of NFA has already reached 383,426 bags, or an equivalent of 19,171 metric tons.
“Actual corn procurement will be low since the harvest season has yet to peak,” he noted. Main harvest for corn usually begins in August and peaks by November, although the harvest in some areas continue until the first week of January the following year.
“We are expecting the average volume of corn bought on a per month basis to increase soon,” he said.
With the government focusing on domestic corn buying, aside from the support price of P12.30 per kilogram, the NFA is also granting additional incentives of P0.20 per kg each for drying and transport, and another P0.30 per kg for cooperative development. “This translates to an effective buying orice of P13 per kg of clean and dry corn kernels,” he cited.
“We are confident that at this price, the farmers will realize a higher income, and this will entice them to sell their produce to the agency,” he added.
He likewise noted that since it has been several years that the NFA had stopped buying corn, some farmers have yet to familiarize themselves with delivering their produce once again to the agency.
Meanwhile, the department of agriculture (DA) is also intensifying its support to the local corn industry from production to the post-harvest stage to ensure farmers will attain higher yield, lower production and marketing costs and reduced post-harvest losses.
DA assistant secretary and GMA corn program director Dennis Araullo said one particular strategy it is implementing is to allow farmers to produce quality feed and food grade corn while reducing post-harvest losses from 15 to seven percent through the provision of post-harvest facilities for growers in major producing areas across the country.
For this year, Araullo said the DA is aiming to complete the construction of 50 corn post-harvest processing and trading centers and 44 village-type corn cob dryers in strategic corn-growing areas of the country.