NFA has sufficient palay-buying fund
by Jemin B. Guillermo
Roxas City (8 October) -- The food agency in Capiz assures Capiceņo farmers of sufficient fund to buy palay products.
Provincial Manager Sergio Balofiņos of the National Food Authority (NFA) here said that in line with the present harvest season, the government has enough fund to pay palay deliveries at their office.
Balofiņos also urges the farmers here to sell their palay to the food agency, particularly through the NFA's grains warehouses.
He added that upon the request of farmers, the food agency here also makes mobile procurement.
On the other hand, NFA also offers P12.00 per bag of 50-kilogram mechanical drying fee for palay output for individual farmers and farmer's organizations who opted to sell their palay to the agency, Information Officer Edna Artates said.
She said that this is in line with the government's National Food Grains Highway Program (NFGHP) of NFA which is part of the national government's Food Highway Program.
Aside from the NFA's NFGH, the Food Highway Program includes the National Cold Chain Program and the expansion of barangay food terminal intended to reach more people in more places around the country. Cabinet Secretary Ricardo Saludo explained.
The Food Highway Program is part of the Hunger Mitigation Master Plan which is one of the priority agenda of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to fight the war against hunger incidence in the country.
Meanwhile, the food agency here said that aside from the regular P10.00 per kilogram procurement price, the government also provides additional incentives, namely delivery and drying incentive fee.
For farmer's organization, the food agency also grants additional cooperative and development incentive fee which can be used for the acquisition of post harvest facilities, purchase of fertilizers, seeds, farm inputs or NFA rice, Artates said. (PIA) [top]
