NFA sets palay buying target

The National Food Authority (NFA) ushers the year with aggressive palay buying as a total of 249,905 bags was procured in three weeks period equivalent to 46 percent of this month’s 537,500 bags target.
While the volume bought maybe lower compared to the same period last year, NFA administrator Jessup Navarro on Wednesday said the quantity procured is already an accomplishment since farmers are just starting to harvest their palay.
Unlike with the same period last year where the main harvest was extended, the typhoons that hit the country in the last quarter of 2009 affected most of palay producing regions, he said.
“Through the agency’s buying operations, we were able to help farmers who recovered and were able to plant and harvest their palay early,” he added.
Navarro is confident that with the NFA’s aggressive palay buying, the agency could meet until April the 2.1 million bags it is eyeing to buy for the summer harvest or “palagad.”
Aside from the half million bags target for January, the NFA is set to buy some 360,250 bags for February; 540,250 for March; a higher 696,900 bags during the peak of harvest in April.
Another 504,900 bags are expected to be bought in May especially in regions where summer harvest is usually extended.
Navarro said the NFA is buying at a daily average rate of 23,018 bags. Southern Tagalog posted the highest volume of palay procured with 84,025 bags most of these coming from Mindoro.
Procurement is also high at Ilocos region with 71,787 bags even if the region was reportedly among those highly affected by typhoons last year.
To give farmers better income and entice them to sell their produce to NFA, he said, the agency grants an additional P0.70 per kilo incentives in addition to the P17 per kilogram buying price for clean and dry palay.
These include P0.30 per kg for cooperative development and P0.20 per kg each for drying and transport incentives.
Navarro said the drying and transport incentives are granted to compensate farmers’ efforts to improve the quality of their produce and pay for their expenses in bringing these to the agency’s buying stations.
“This translate to P17.70 per kg the effective buying price of NFA for clean and dry palay,” he said.
The grant of these incentives bring the agency’s effective palay buying price to P885 per 50 kg, he added.
The NFA sets this year’s palay procurement target at 11.6 million bags.