LINGAYEN–Farmers and cooperatives are being called on to revalidate their passbooks in time for the coming harvest season for the second crop rice so that they can avail of the government support price for palay.

Ramon Cuaresma, provincial manager of the National Food Authority (NFA) in western Pangasinan, issued the advice, noting the usual bottleneck and delays that arise during the harvest season.

The revalidation of passbooks is done every cropping season to ensure that farmer-sellers have actually planted palay, or corn, for the cropping period.

Cuaresma said this is a basic safeguard to make sure that legitimate farmers are the direct beneficiaries of palay-buying at government-pegged prices that guarantees them fair return of investment in case of negative price fluctuations in the commercial market.

Having their passbook revalidated early entitles them to opportunities for wider marketing options to maximize their income even as they are readily accommodated in buying stations, Cuaresma said.

NFA buys palay at P17 per kilogram, plus incentives of up to P0.70 per kilogram for collective deliveries under the Institutionalized Procurement Program (IPP) and P0.40 per kilogram incentive for individual farmers.–LM

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