NFA rice stock for lean months ready
THE National Food Authority (NFA) has a buffer stock of at least 169, 452 bags of rice in time for the lean months that will start July 1, the normal start of the rainy season.
Sulpicio Terrado, Economist III of the NFA branch in Western Pangasinan, said this is close to the 30-day estimated rice consumption in the area, which is 176,000 bags.
He said the gap will be filled by imported rice from Vietnam and Thailand now being unloaded at Poro Point in La Union for distribution to various NFA warehouses in Western Pangasinan.
NFA estimates the daily rice consumption in western Pangasinan at 11,780 bags per day or some 176,000 bags per 30 days, which is the stock that must be maintained for one month.
Terrado said during the KBP Forum last Thursday that Western Pangasinan is self-sufficient in rice as compared to Eastern Pangasinan, which has a large surplus owing to its big rice producing area.
He said NFA is buying palay from farmers at P18 per kilo which is admittedly lower than the buying price being offered by traders at P21 to P22 per kilo and which farmers naturally take advantage of.
But the P18 buying price of palay per kilo by the NFA, Terrado said, is still not disadvantageous to farmers who spend from P40,000 to P60,000 production cost per hectare. Their palay production when computed would amount to P10 to P12 per kilo.
At P18 per kilo buying price of palay of NFA, farmers will still have marked up profit of P6 to P18 per kilo, he said.
He said by buying palay at P18 per kilo, NFA seeks to stabilize the supply as well as price of rice in the market. (Leonardo Micua)
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