GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/26 September) — The National Food Authority (NFA) in Region 12 (Southwestern Mindanao) is targeting to purchase some 685,000 bags of palay in the region under its subsidized buying program.
Gil Pepito Paqueo, NFA Region 12 director, said Sunday they have opened all their warehouses in the region to accommodate the projected rise in palay harvest in the coming weeks due to the continuing peak of the harvest season.
The region comprises the provinces of Sarangani, South Cotabato, North Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat and the cities of General Santos, Koronadal, Tacurong, Kidapawan and Cotabato.
As of June, NFA Region 12 listed at least 24 operational warehouses and grains centers in the region with a total effective capacity of 1.8 million cavans.
Thirteen of these warehouses are located within commercial or trading centers in the region.
Paqueo said their subsidized procurement scheme started earlier this month and will continue until December.
“Our intensified palay buying has been ongoing and we’ve so far recorded an increasing trend in terms of palay deliveries,” he said.
Paqueo specifically cited their ongoing palay procurement in the coastal municipality of Lebak in Sultan Kudarat, which already posted deliveries of more than 30,000 bags.
He said they also monitored a surge in palay deliveries in the four NFA warehouses in South Cotabato since they opened their palay procurement last September 16.
NFA buying stations are currently accepting palay deliveries from members of accredited farmers’ organizations and cooperatives at P17.70 per kilogram, inclusive of drying, transport and cooperative development incentives.
Individual farmers may also avail of the subsidized buying rate at P17.40 per kilogram.
Paqueo assured local farmers in the region that the NFA has enough funds to accommodate the palay deliveries to their warehouses and buying stations based on their allotment from the NFA central office.
He said the NFA central office had allotted a subsidy of some P8 billion for the intensified palay procurement program and it has released some P2 billion for its regional offices.
Meantime, Paqueo advised farmers to properly dry their palay harvest before stocking them for delivery to the NFA warehouses or buying stations to maintain their quality.
He said they have set the allowable moisture content for the palay deliveries at 14% to avoid the yellowing of the grains upon their milling.
“The presence of yellow grains means the milled rice is of low quality and this is mainly due to improper postharvest handling. We want to avoid this kind of situation because it will also diminish the value of the milled rice,” Paqueo added. (Allen V. Estabillo/MindaNews)
