DA official urges early start of palay buying by NFA

MANILA, Philippines - Agriculture Undersecretary for field operations Jess Paras has asked Secretary Arthur Yap to order the National Food Authority (NFA) to jumpstart palay buying as his field men reported that private traders have been buying far below government prices in the aftermath of the two typhoons that hit the country in quick succession.

“Traders are now pricing dry palay (unhusked rice) at a range of P11 and P14 a kilo, far below government buying price of P17 a kilo in Central and Northern Luzon,” the farm official, monitoring the extent of damage wrought by typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng, reported.

He noted that traders have been under-pricing palay because much of the grains are not bright yellow when dried due to heavy rains but when milled, the color of the milled rice is not affected.

 “We have to intervene in the market now to help farmers victimized by the typhoons get back on their feet,” Paras said.

Palay buying should be in addition to the P1.8 billion in emergency funding for new seeds and fertilizers that the DA has sought released by the Department of Budget Management to help victimized farmers recover their crop losses, Paras stressed.

Palay buying at more profitable prices to farmers would help them raise new capital for replanting on patches of land whose crops were totally destroyed without the need for direct subsidies from government, he pointed out.

He said standing rice crops were hardest hit by the twin typhoons in Luzon. The latest field report collected by the DA central action center showed that a total of P26.5 billion in agricultural and fishery losses have been inflicted by the past two typhoons.

He said that his field men reported close to 300,000 metric tons of rice spoiled by typhoon Ondoy and another 850,000 metric tons swept away by typhoon Pepeng. The 1.15 million metric tons in losses were equivalent to 17.74 percent of total harvests for the last quarter of the year.