Rice millers seek gov’t support
Local rice millers are appealing to the Department of Agriculture (DA) to come up with a support program for the rice milling industry instead of just concentrating the government’s attention to rice production.
Joji Co, president of the Philippine Confederation of Grains Association (PhilConGrains), said the DA should draw up a five-year support program for the rice milling industry which is an important link in post-harvest rice production and distribution.
Specifically, Co said, rice millers need support in the area of financing. He said rice millers need to upgrade and modernize their milling operations lower the five-percent loss in milling operations.
“Most of the mills are antiquated,” Co said, adding “they (DA) put so much into production and hybrid seed, but they don’t look at us.”
According to Co, most rice millers have difficulty accessing formal financing sources and dealing with high interest rates. He said the DA should help rice millers access concessional funding that offer low interst rates.
Support in the form of lower tariffs, Co said, is already available.
What is now more important to rice millers, is having access to concessional funds from government financial institutions such as Land Bank of the
“Government should also address minimizing post-harvest wastage. We need to improve post-harvest efficiency,” he added.
Co said improving or minimizing post-harvest losses, would help the
The DA is already addressing the problem, specifically for the corn sector, by providing post-harvest facilities such as dryers and processors.
Palay, likewise, needs to be dried in order for farmers to get a better price. A high moisture content translates to a lower buying price from rice traders and the National Food Authority. The NFA requires a maximum 14 percent moisture content for the palay it buys from the farmers.
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