Farmgate price of palay hiked

In a move aimed at encouraging farmers, the National Food Authority increased the farmgate price of palay from P12 to P17.

NFA-7 Enforcement and Investigation Division chief Edgar Diez said President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo recently ordered for a P5 increase the buying price of palay for every kilogram.

Upon her arrival Tuesday from a three-day visit to Hong Kong, the President announced that P5 billion or five percent of last year’s P100 billion budget surplus would be set aside as subsidy to farmers in a move to increase rice production in the country.

Also, President had ordered the release of P1.5 billion to boost rice production to avert a shortage of the staple amid a tight supply in the world market.

Diez said the buying price of NFA, with a 42 percent increase, aims to match the commercial buying price of palay in the different regions using a credit line from the Land Bank of the Philippines.

The new buying price will immediately be implemented since more farmers are still harvesting their palay produce.

However, farmers in Bohol recently divulged that even if NFA raises the farm gate price a dozen times, they will still be unable to reap the benefits.

Niboy Olayvar, who heads the Panaghugpong sa Mag-uuma sa Timog Amihanang Bohol (PAMATAMBO), said although rice procurement price of NFA is higher, the middlemen or bigtime buyers will only buy it from them at a lower price of about P8 to P10 only.

Rice farmers in Bohol like Olayvar greatly depend on middlemen and lenders to sustain the planting stages of the rice from inputs such as seeds and fertilizers.

Olayvar said during the harvest season, the farmers are left with no profit and even less rice on their respective table since most of them attain a negative balance after sharing their proceeds with their landlords and paying the planting costs. — Ferliza C. Contratista/LPM