NFA defers decision on hike in palay buying price

MANILA, Philippines — The interagency National Food Authority has deferred discussions on a proposal to increase the buying price for unmilled rice or palay.

“I asked the Council Secretariat. The discussion on the palay price adjustment during the last council meeting was deferred,” NFA spokesperson Rebecca Olarte told The STAR.

“It’s hard to speculate why (it was deferred). And there is no schedule and agenda yet as to when the next meeting will be,” she said.

As of the end of November, only 18 percent of the three million bags targeted for procurement had been bought due to the higher price offered by private traders compared to the government support price.

“We still could not buy more and we will most likely fail to reach our target by yearend,” Olarte said.

The indecision comes even if a new team within the council has been created around October to look into the pros and cons of the proposal.

NFA pushed for a P5 increase, but was immediately denied by the council and was instead asked to review its proposal.

The buying price remains at P17 per kilogram for clean and dry. It gives an additional incentive of P0.20 to P0.50 per kilogram for delivery, P0.20 per kg for drying, and P0.30 for cooperative development incentive fund for farmers’ organizations.

The NFA Council team looking into the proposal is composed of representatives from the NFA, National Economic and Development Authority, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Department of Finance and Department of Trade and Industry.

The team is expected to agree on a rate that would be implemented by the agency.

The Department of Agriculture has been backing NFA’s proposal, but insisted that it should only increase by up to P3.