The National Food Authority will need P16.3 billion next year to procure the country’s target rice buffer stock and additional budget to upgrade storage capacity.
NFA acting administrator Larry Lacson said that aside from funding the procurement of palay from local farmers, the government corporation attached to the Department of Agriculture will also have to build additional storage and drying facilities to improve its buffer stocking capacity.
The NFA only has capacity to dry 31,000 metric tons but buys around 495,000 metric tons of palay. NFA is required by law to maintain a buffer stock equivalent to 9 days of national rice consumption.
The proposed DA budget in 2025 sets aside P24.85 billion for the NFA, a 77 percent increase from P14.03 billion this year.
Of the budget for this year, P9 billion has been set aside for NFA’s palay procurement, with an assumed procurement price at a maximum P23 a kilo. Last month, however, the NFA Council raised the maximum purchasing price to P30 per kilo to allow the government corporation to effectively compete with private traders for local rice supply.
The Rice Tariffication Law has limited the NFA to procuring rice from local farmers in pursuit of its duty to build a national buffer stock to ensure sufficient rice supply in case of emergency. The RTL has also stripped the NFA of its responsibility to intervene in the market to stabilize prices, or import rice to increase the buffer stock.
Congress is still debating whether to restore the NFA’s power to import rice or stabilize prices in the market. Some legislators have suggested the power to import and stabilize rice prices be assigned to the DA.
