MANILA, Philippines - The National Food Authority (NFA) is considering to import an additional 400,000 metric tons (MT) of rice this year to stabilize supply and prices after the onslaught of Super Typhoon Yolanda, officials said yesterday.
The NFA Council earlier approved the importation of 200,000 MT of rice that would be procured from Vietnam, which supplied 800,000 MT imported this year for buffer stocking.
The price offer for the repeat procurement from Vietnam would be discussed in the NFA Council meeting next week.
In a briefing in Quezon City yesterday, Francis Pangilinan, presidential assistant for food security and agricultural modernization, said the NFA would also discuss during its meeting the importation of another 200,000 MT for buffer stocking.
The NFA is considering a government-to-government procurement or open bidding for procurement.
“Typhoon Glenda has left considerable damage on rice (cultivation areas) so we have to consider this,” Pangilinan said.
Newly installed NFA administrator Arthur Juan said the first batch of imports would be programmed for arrival between August to September, while the second batch of imports would be programmed for arrival between September to October.
“The volume that will spill over to October will be diverted to buffer stock so as not to interfere with the harvest,” Juan said.
The value of damage inflicted by Typhoon Glenda on the agriculture sector has risen to P2.88 billion as of yesterday as major production areas for rice and high-value crops were hit by the typhoon, the Department of Agriculture said.
Production losses in rice have risen to P1 billion; corn, P309.2 million; high-value crops, P484.3 million; fisheries, P796.9 million; and livestock, P1 million.
The value of damage inflicted on farms and fisheries infrastructure has also risen to P279.1 million.
Affected by the typhoon were 43,612 hectares of palay of which 22, 914 hectares may still recover as these are still in the vegetative stage.
Regions most affected by the typhoon were Region III, Region IV-A, Region IV-B, Region V and Region III.
The NFA is struggling to stabilize rice prices post-disaster amid the clamor of NFA rice retailers to increase their profit margins to cover other expenses in retailing NFA rice.
The NFA buys clean and dry palay at P17 per kilogram, providing additional incentives such as graduated delivery fee of up to a maximum P0.50 per kilogram, drying incentive fee of P0.20 per kilogram, and Cooperative Development Incentive Fund assistance of P0.30 per kilogram.
In turn, it sells well-milled rice for P32 per kilogram and regular rice for P27 per kilogram.