NFA warns of mixed rice in markets

By Cheneen R. Capon
THE National Food Authority (NFA) has warned consumers to be on the lookout of distributors in Davao City who mix commercial rice with NFA rice and have this sold in different public markets.
Virgilio B. Alerta, NFA 11 provincial manager, said these distributors tend to mix commercial and NFA rice during the lean season.
The lean season for rice production starts by late April and usually ends by July before the harvesting season in August.
Alerta said the supply of commercial rice drop during the lean season.
“During last year’s lean season, we were able to apprehend 12 violators. Most of them are caught in the act of repacking and mixing NFA rice with the commercial rice,” Alerta said.
Most arrested NFA rice distributors were from public markets located in Bankerohan, Agdao, Calinan, and the Island Garden City of Samal (IGACOS).
For the first quarter of the year, Alerta said NFA has already collared two violators from Bankerohan and Samal public markets.
Alerta said the agency is capable of determining whether the commercial rice is mixed with commercial rice during their regular inspection.
NFA-Davao has a total of 160 accredited NFA outlets in Davao City, mostly located in Toril and Bankerohan public markets.
Meanwhile, Alerta also said the supply of commercial rice in Davao City is still stable.
“We still receive rice supply from the rice production area in Calinan, Davao City,” he said.
The dry spell season, Alerta said, has not yet affected rice production areas here in the region compared to those located in Cotabato provinces and Maguindanao. Maguindanao recorded millions of losses in its rice industry this month because of the El Niño.
Davao City’s commercial rice supply came from nearby provinces like Davao del Sur, Davao del Norte and Compostela Valley.
“Farmers here are now preparing for the planting season which will be on May. They are already planting other root crops to condition their lands,” Alerta said.
Alerta said the supply of commercial rice is expected to go down resulting to the increase of its price but the NFA is ready to provide NFA rice coming from Vietnam.
He said NFA Davao has recorded 380,000 bags of NFA rice buffer stock as of press time and 160,000 bags will arrive on Friday.
“We already receive notice of the vessel that will ship the NFA rice,” he added.
The 160,000 NFA rice is just a protion of 400,000 bags that the region will receive for the rest of the year.
NFA- Davao is contributing only 15 percent of the 10,000 bags average daily rice consumption of the city.
“Our contribution to the market is dictated by the demand. When consumers see that the price of commercial rice goes up, they resort to NFA rice and vice versa,” he added.