NFA: Palay buying price to increase to P21/kilo

MANILA, Philippines — The National Food Authority (NFA) will hike the buying price for palay or unmilled rice during the incoming rice harvest season in September, Department of Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said.

The NFA will set the minimum buying price for palay at P21 per kilo, higher than the previous P17 per kilo for palay harvest.

The increased buying price will allow the agency to lessen the losses of local producers amid higher costs for fuel and fertilizers.

“I’ve ordered the NFA to set the minimum buying price for wet palay at P21 per kilo to help address the higher cost of fertilizer and other inputs,” Tiu Laurel said during the inauguration of a rice processing plant in Dumangas, Iloilo.

The NFA previously purchased dry palay at prices ranging from P25 to P30 per kilo during the dry season harvest.

Meanwhile, Tiu Laurel said the agency would not allow imported rice to enter any port in the province of Iloilo from mid-September until the end of November.

Iloilo is one of the largest rice producing areas in the Visayas, accounting for five percent of the country’s rice production.

He added that this would prevent imported rice from competing during the local peak harvest season.

“That is what I can do to ensure that you would earn a decent return from your hard work,” he said.

The DA said both measures would strengthen the bargaining position of farmers by providing the NFA with greater influence over local palay farmgate prices, while also easing pressure from imported rice.

The NFA said that the recently inaugurated rice processing plant in the province would allow the agency to buy more freshly harvested grain and absorb about 12 percent of the area’s projected harvest.

Tiu Laurel said two more facilities are set to be operational by the incoming October harvest.