NFA now sells well-milled rice

CEBU, Philippines - The National Food Authority in Central Visayas is now selling well-milled rice at P32 per kilo on top of its existing rice variety that is currently sold at P27 per kilo.

NFA-7 director Efren Sabong said that the major markets in Cebu City are the priority area of distribution since the other day.

Sabong said that NFA-7 may also distribute well-milled rice in other areas of Central Visayas where there is wide gap in prices between commercial and government price.

Lucy Rosales, regional information officer, told The Freeman that this is done to further stabilize the price of well-milled rice in the market until the harvest season on September.

“Gisugdan na namo ang releasing of well-milled rice gahapon to NFA licensed retailers (We started releasing well-milled rice to NFA licensed retailers yesterday),” said Rosales.

In a separate statement, Sabong said the food agency introduced middle-priced well-milled rice to provide the consuming public with an option whether to buy affordable but of higher quality rice or commercial rice varieties that are currently sold in the market at a much higher price.

Sabong added that NFA rice remained at P27 per kilo.

He explained that the price of rice normally increase on lean months period which is from June to August every year.

Sabong added that NFA is regularly fielding its price monitoring team to ensure the visibility and availability of NFA rice in the markets.

Although Central Visayas is considered a deficit area in terms of rice production, Sabong said there is no cause for alarm because the NFA has a comfortable level of rice inventory.

He said there are about 1,052,000 bags of Vietnam rice currently on stock at the NFA warehouses which serve as government’s buffer stock. (FREEMAN)