NFA raises palay buying price

MANILA, Philippines — The National Food Authority (NFA) is offering farmers as much as P30 per kilogram for clean and dry palay, while also doubling the volume growers can sell to 500 bags per cropping season.

These initiatives aim to improve farm incomes and build government rice reserves ahead of a potentially strong El Niño.

NFA Administrator Larry Lacson said about 80 percent of the agency’s branches nationwide are now buying clean and dry palay at P30 per kilogram, with the lowest buying price at P28.

The agency has also scrapped its previous ceiling of 200 bags per farmer and adopted a procurement limit based on the average palay yield in a province multiplied by the farmer’s cultivated area, subject to a maximum of five hectares.

Under the revised arrangement, farmers cultivating three hectares can sell volumes equivalent to three times the prevailing provincial average yield, while those tilling five hectares can potentially sell 500 bags or more if local productivity is higher.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the higher buying price and expanded procurement limit are intended to ensure farmers receive better returns for their hard work while encouraging them to continue planting despite mounting weather risks.

“Even with a strong El Niño looming, we want to encourage them to keep planting because the country will need every kilogram of rice they can produce,” Tiu Laurel said.

Clean and dry palay is defined as grain with a moisture content of 11 to 14 percent. Freshly harvested palay fetches a lower price depending on its moisture content, with Lacson estimating a discount of about P4 per kilo.

At a P30 buying price for dry grain, fresh palay would command around P25 to P26.