CABANATUAN CITY – No need for Central Luzon to grab an allocation of imported rice in 2010.
That is if the National Food Authority (NFA) realizes its target procurement this harvest season of 3.4 million bags from all over the region, according to Joseph Y. Dela Cruz, NFA regional manager.
NFA Region 3 currently has 1.4 million bags of palay as food security stocks and if the 3.4 million bags will be procured this cropping season, total inventory will be 4.8 million bags,” Dela Cruz said.
He explained that translated into milled rice, the stocks would be 3.1 million bags which is “more than enough to sustain the rice requirements of Region 3 by 2010.”
Unhusked rice has guaranteed 65 percent recovery, the NFA data showed.
Dela Cruz disclosed the agency has earmarked P289 million cereal fund to procure 3.4 million bags of palay from Central Luzon farmers at P17 a kilogram this season which spans from September to December this year.
An effort to pump prime the agricultural sector, he said, the procurement program is being intensified by fielding 68 buying stations and 15 mobile procurement teams.
In Nueva Ecija alone, NFA provincial manager Edelino Alejandro said they will initially open a total of 10 NFA-owned buying stations to accommodate local farmers. In addition, Alejandro said, “we will field four mobile procurement teams to serve farmers in far-flung areas where ex-farm prices (would) show decreasing trend.”
The provincial manager said they aim to buy 884,000 bags of palay from farmers in Nueva Ecija, dubbed as the rice granary of Central Luzon.
For the entire 2009, Dela Cruz explained, the procurement target was 3.6 million bags. But 200,000 bags have already been purchased in the first semester of the year.
Just like in the previous years, the NFA extends incentives to individual farmers and farmers’ groups on top of its P17 per kilo support price, according to the regional director. These incentives include P.20/kg as cooperative development incentive fund for farmers’ cooperatives; P.20/kg delivery incentive and P.20/kg drying incentive.
Should other regions need support to buffer their stocks, the Central Luzon office would mill its palay stocks and transfer rice to those in urgent need.
That is if the National Food Authority (NFA) realizes its target procurement this harvest season of 3.4 million bags from all over the region, according to Joseph Y. Dela Cruz, NFA regional manager.
NFA Region 3 currently has 1.4 million bags of palay as food security stocks and if the 3.4 million bags will be procured this cropping season, total inventory will be 4.8 million bags,” Dela Cruz said.
He explained that translated into milled rice, the stocks would be 3.1 million bags which is “more than enough to sustain the rice requirements of Region 3 by 2010.”
Unhusked rice has guaranteed 65 percent recovery, the NFA data showed.
Dela Cruz disclosed the agency has earmarked P289 million cereal fund to procure 3.4 million bags of palay from Central Luzon farmers at P17 a kilogram this season which spans from September to December this year.
An effort to pump prime the agricultural sector, he said, the procurement program is being intensified by fielding 68 buying stations and 15 mobile procurement teams.
In Nueva Ecija alone, NFA provincial manager Edelino Alejandro said they will initially open a total of 10 NFA-owned buying stations to accommodate local farmers. In addition, Alejandro said, “we will field four mobile procurement teams to serve farmers in far-flung areas where ex-farm prices (would) show decreasing trend.”
The provincial manager said they aim to buy 884,000 bags of palay from farmers in Nueva Ecija, dubbed as the rice granary of Central Luzon.
For the entire 2009, Dela Cruz explained, the procurement target was 3.6 million bags. But 200,000 bags have already been purchased in the first semester of the year.
Just like in the previous years, the NFA extends incentives to individual farmers and farmers’ groups on top of its P17 per kilo support price, according to the regional director. These incentives include P.20/kg as cooperative development incentive fund for farmers’ cooperatives; P.20/kg delivery incentive and P.20/kg drying incentive.
Should other regions need support to buffer their stocks, the Central Luzon office would mill its palay stocks and transfer rice to those in urgent need.
