Rice inventory more than enough: NFA
The National Food Authority said the present rice inventory of two million metric tons or 56 percent of the total national inventory of 3.56 million metric tons is more than enough to meet the country’s requirement until the end of the year.
NFA Administrator Jessup Navarro said the food agency has strategically positioned its rice stocks nationwide especially in calamity prone areas even before the onset of the rainy season.
He said field officials are checking the proper execution of memorandum of agreement on disaster preparedness with the local government units from the provincial down to the municipal level especially in disaster-prone areas.
With the agreement in place, LGUs can purchase their rice requirements from NFA on credit terms for relief operations during calamities.
The NFA also has an existing agreement with relief agencies such as National Disaster Coordinating Council, Philippine National Red Cross, and the Department of Social Welfare and Development to avoid delays in the issuance of rice for relief operations in times of disasters, natural or man-made.
RICE PRICES STABLE
Meanwhile, Navarro said that rice prices in the market have remained stable. Average retail price of regular milled rice ranges from P 30.65 to P 31.18 per kilo and P34.20 to P 34.59 per kilo for well-milled rice from January to June this year.
He said he sees no increase in rice prices during these lean months because of the proactive stance made by the government to import rice to fill-in the gap in rice production after the El Niño hit the country early this year.
The NFA has contracted this year 2.5 million MTs, including the 200,000 MTs allotted to the private sector. More than 2.2 million MTs have already arrived in various ports and are now stored in NFA warehouses nationwide.
