NFA settles P40-M debt with Bulacan tillers

MALOLOS CITY – The National Food Authority (NFA) office here has paid more than P40 million it owed to farmers’ groups and cooperatives for palay it procured last month.

Earlier, farmers in the province had complained about the delay in NFA payments, saying their families were already going hungry.

Eduardo Camua, information officer of NFA-Bulacan, told The STAR that the agency has finally settled its obligations with the farmers and even has a standby fund of P11 million for more palay purchases.

He said the P40 million was paid for about 50,000 bags of palay, which the NFA had bought since last September.

The NFA-Bulacan office is targeting the procurement of 200,000 bags of palay, of which at least 180,000 bags have been secured.

The NFA has been aggressive in buying palay from Bulacan farmers in line with a directive from the Department of Agriculture to procure all the palay it could get to secure the country’s rice stocks for next year.

The NFA buys palay at P17 per kilo, about 50 centavos higher than that of commercial traders, and also offers a fertilizer subsidy of P1,800 to farmers’ groups who sell at least 50 bags.