Take advantage of weather to dry palay, NFA tells farmers

FARMERS should take advantage of current hot and dry weather to dry their palay (unmilled rice) harvests, the National Food Authority (NFA) said, as this would increase profits and also contribute to the agency's task of shoring up the country's rice supply.

Doing so will add to processing times and cost an extra P1 per kilo, NFA Administrator Larry Lacson said, but farmers will be able to earn an additional P4 per kilo.

Rice millers currently buy clean and dried palay at P20 to P22 per kilo, the NFA said, while fresh palay is usually priced P5 lower. Factoring in the P1 added cost for drying, Lacson said "a farmer harvesting 5 tons per hectare could net an extra P20,000."

Selling palay directly to the NFA will also be more profitable for farmers, Lacson said, as the agency has raised its buying price for fresh palay to P18 per kilo and that for dried palay to P24.

The NFA's drying suggestion comes as the government continues its efforts to lower domestic rice prices. High market prices of the staple have been blamed for keeping inflation elevated, although these have gone down somewhat with the Department of Agriculture now selling cheaper-priced NFA rice through more channels other than government stores.

The agency has a palay purchase goal of 880,000 metric tons this year in accordance with a new rice buffer stock requirement under the amended Rice Tariffication Law. The law mandates the NFA to maintain a buffer stock equivalent to 15 days of national consumption.

To meet this, the NFA said that it was expanding its warehouse capacity, speeding up milling operations and also buying new trucks to improve the palay procurement process while at the same time boosting farmers' profits.

The procurement budget for this year was said to be around P14 billion, P5 billion of which was carried over from last year's funds.