THE National Food Authority (NFA) in eastern Pangasinan said it continues to buy palay from local farmers in accordance with its mandate, but only to farmers or groups that had been issued with Authority to Deliver (ATD).

Frederick Dulay, NFA manager in eastern Pangasinan, said the prevailing buying price of NFA is P24 per kilo for dried palay and P19 per kilo for freshly harvested palay.

NFA was earlier accused by farmers of being hesitant to buy palay because most, if not all, of its warehouses are full because of its failure to continuously mill stocks and make space.

Dulay explained that they prefer to store palay than rice because the former has a longer shelf life, but added that they are also undertaking milling operations.

Because of the perceived hesitancy of the NFA to buy palay after the rice harvest for the second crop season, farmers who are in need of cash to buy essential things for their families were forced to sell their output to private traders, who are buying palay way below the price ceiling set by NFA.

Dulay called on farmers with ATD to bring their palay to buying stations for classification and once these are assessed to have met  the moisture content standard, these will be purchased by the government agency.

Meanwhile, Dulay revealed that the existing buffer stock of NFA in Pangasinan is 494,296 bags of palay and another 290,000 bags of rice. (Leonardo Micua)

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