P4.1 M rice procurement fund set for Iloilo

The National Food Authority said that as the harvest season start to peak a level, farmers are best assured of  the  government readiness with  P4.1 million budget  appropriated for Iloilo province.

Manager Hedy Jardeleza said in an interview with the Philippine Information Agency that enough funds will pour in should the present allocation is already used up in their palay procurement activities. She also assured the farmers that the food agency has enough funds to finance  its procurement operations.

Jardeleza said that NFA has set up seven buying stations in strategic locations of Iloilo province, and likewise in the island province of Guimaras.

The buying stations are  set up in Jaro, Iloilo City, the municipalities of Pototan, Dumangas, San Dionisio, and three in the island province of Guimaras.

She stressed  that there are also two mobile procurement teams which the NFA has assigned to serve the needs of those who are in the far-flung areas. “All our farmers’ got to do is to properly coordinate with their respective Local Government Units or with the personnel of their local agriculture office,” Jardeleza said.

She saw no worries from the farmers sector because “we already have early dialogues conducted with the different Farmers’ organizations/leaders, and members of cooperatives in the province, and they are aware of the NFA’s palay procurement procedures,” Jardelesa said.

The NFA’s buying price for clean and dry palay is set at Pl0.00 per kilo but there is a lesser price for palay that comes directly from the rice thresher  which are not fully dried. The manager of the Food agency said that the buying price of the rice will depend on the rice’s moisture content.

Jardeleza  urged the farmers to fully dry their rice produce so they could avail of better price and other incentives from the government’s food agency. (PIA/T.Villavert)