NFA ups palay buying price
by T. Villavert
Iloilo City (17 October) -- The National Food Authority (NFA) has increased its palay buying price from P10.00 to P11.00 per kilo.
In a PIA interview Mr. Juban Villa, assistant manager and OIC of NFA-Iloilo said that the new support price was made effective yesterday following the receipt of the directive from their central office.
While the harvest season for the first cropping season have started, but both the NFA and the Agriculture department observed that several of the farmers' crops were affected by the flood brought about by the typhoons.
Mr. Manuel Umanday of the crop section of the Department of Agriculture in Region VI said in a separate PIA interview that "it is always the same concerns that our farmers are always encountering during these period, because we lack post harvest facilities" but he emphasized that our farmers are still encouraged to plant more.
The DA press report disclosed that the 10% increase in palay buying price is in line with the DA's relentless efforts to promote the productivity and profitability of our rice farmers.
This recent increase in the palay procurement price will raise farmers' earnings and surely boost their enthusiasm to produce more, especially with the use of high-yielding hybrid seeds and better inputs.
According to secretary Arthur Yap, farmers would continue to enjoy the incentive of P0.25 per kilo for palay that met the NFA's moisture content requirement and delivered to its warehouses while farmers' cooperatives will get an additional P0.25-a-kilo incentive if they sell their produce to the government. (PIA) [top]
