DIGOS City, Davao del Sur (PIA) — The National Food Authority bought a total of 11,074 sacks of palay from the farmers in Davao Region since the implementation of an increased support buying price of the government in September.
NFADavao Regional Information Officer Christine Castro said they allocated a total of P71 million to the program which is enough to sustain the new prices offered to the farmers,” she said.
Castro said the stocks acquired from the farmers are enough for emergencies like fire or floods that may affect certain communities.
“We are dependent on the number of stocks being asked by the local government units as relief in times of emergency, ” she said.
She called on the farmers to sell their palay, either dry or wet with 25% moisture content, to the government in order that NFA will have sufficient buffer stock.
Earlier, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. announced the increase in NFA’s buying price from P19.00 to P23.00 for dry palay and from P16.00 to P19.00 for wet palay.
Meanwhile, NFA-Davao del Sur Manager Janette Linao said that the agency has continued its campaign for farmers to sell their palay produce to the government, especially with the increase in the government’s support buying price.
Farmers selling their palay produce to the NFA procurement team (NFA photo)
“Rice farmers started to patronize their prices from a rice farmer to farmers association in Hagonoy, Davao del Sur, because of the increase in the NFA buying price,” she said.
Linao was delighted to see their clients swell, like the Bayanihan Zone 3 Irrigators’ Association of Hagonoy, Inc., that had sold their harvest to the agency.
She said they also reached out to the irrigators’ association in Bansalan, where they had a proper discussion about the increased support price for palay.
The NFA Davao del Sur covers the provinces of Davao del Sur, Davao Occidental and Davao City.
Rice stocks in one of the warehouses of NFA in Davao Region (Photo from NFA XI)
Dionisio Sarona, a farmer-leader based in Matanao town, showed his full support for the NFA’s mandate of food security in times of calamities and emergencies by delivering wet palay.
He availed of the NFA’s increased buying price of palay and promised to encourage more farmers to do the same.
Likewise, Mario Tiburcio of the San Agustin Ruparan Barangay Irrigators Development Association of Digos City welcomed the new buying prices of the NFA.
Though the rates offered by the government for buying their farm produce may not be that high, he said they are better than nothing. (JSGD/PIA Davao del Sur)
