Gov't ensures ample cheap rice in countryside
by Jemin B. Guillermo
Roxas City (7 August) -- The government vows to ensure the availability of low-prices supply of rice in the countryside, particularly in typhoon-stricken areas.
National Food Authority (NFA) Administrator Jessup Navarro said that the food agency is continuously replenishing its rice inventory in Western Visayas to ensure the stability in supply and to help keep the price of commercial rice within the reach of ordinary consumers.
Navarro said that thousands more bags of rice are scheduled for unloading in Iloilo and Bacolod.
He added that the continuous flooding of government rice in the market has substantially contributed in stabilizing the prices of regular and well-milled commercial rice varieties.
Capiz NFA Information Officer Edna Artates, on the other hand, revealed that as of August 4, the rice inventory in the province totaled 104,339 bags.
The NFA has 32,594 bags, of which 21,311 bags are imported rice, she said, while the households have 37,925 bags.
The rice inventory in the wholesalers was noted at 19,073 bags, some 9,200 bags in the millers and 5,547 bags in the retailers, she said.
As of August 4, the modal retail price of regular milled rice in Capiz was monitored at P34 per kilogram while the price of well-milled variety rice was noted at P37 per kilogram, Artates said.
Meanwhile, Artates said that buying price of palay here by traders ranges from P13 to P15 per kilogram, while the NFA's buying support price remains at P17 per kilogram. (PIA) [top]
