PRIVATE traders have been buying more palay (unhusked rice) from farmers than the National Food Authority ( A), the Department of Agriculture (DA) said.
This was despite higher A palay procurement prices, the department noted.
The A is tasked to ensure food security by maintaining sufficient rice buffer stocks sourced from local farmers, especially during emergencies.
As of the first week of May, the agency had purchased 13,127 metric tons (MT) or 262,540 bags of palay. This was just 4.2 percent of the 313,315 MT target.
The DA cited the four-month rice import ban late last year and anticipation of a strong El Niño climate disturbance later this year as factors that spurred private traders to aggressively buy more palay.
This is not a bad thing, A Administrator Larry Lacson said, since it has enabled palay prices to increase — tripling from a low of P8 per kilogram before the rice import ban was imposed last September.
It has also helped preserve A funds, which can be used to buy more palay when harvest season ends in October, Lacson said.
The A actually stepped up its buying since April as traders’ prices started dropping, Lacson said, noting that the agency purchased 11,301 MT of palay from April until the first week of May.
About 15 percent of palay produced this dry season have yet to be harvested, he added, which is why the A is prioritizing procurement from farmers registered under the DA’s Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA).
These farmers are encouraged to sell their harvest to the A to support the administration’s P20/kg rice initiative.
“The A has been adjusting to a very dynamic market — stepping back when private traders offered higher prices to ensure farmers benefited, then stepping up its buying as prices normalized,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said. “Moving forward, it must continue to strategically build buffer stocks, prioritize direct support to small farmers, and stay ready to stabilize supply and prices, especially as we approach the lean months and the next main harvest cycle.”
The A’s rice inventory is at 6.75 million bags or 337,618 MT as of May 7. This is equivalent to over eight days of national consumption, based on the country’s 38,608 MT daily demand.
