NFA has 25-day rice buffer stock for Iloilo
The National Food Authority (NFA) Iloilo has a 25-day buffer stock at present, based on the daily consumption of the Ilonggos.
NFA Iloilo Assistant Manager Miguel Aguirre said the daily consumption of the Ilonggos is computed at 21,280 bags and so the 525,670 bags of rice stocked right now could meet the requirement for 25 days.
Aguirre said that now that it is harvest time, the Ilonggos have more than sufficient rice stocks.
In a related report, Provincial Agriculture Officer Ildefonso Toledo said the harvest for the first cropping turns out to be good despite the infestation that happened in some municipalities.
He said though he is not optimistic for the province to reach its 1-million metric ton goal for the year because the El Niño has delayed the planting and harvesting of crops.
Procurement
Meanwhile, NFA-Iloilo has procured around 43,000 bags of palay from local farmers who are enjoying a good harvest.
Aguirre said so far, they have procured around 43,000 bags of palay from farmers in Iloilo and also from the province of Guimaras which they cover.
The NFA procurement program is being done to ensure farmers that they could not be taken advantage of by scrupulous traders especially during the peak of the harvest season.
The NFA Iloilo, which received P43 million from their central office in September for the procurement program, buys clean and dry palay for P17.70 per kilogram from farmers.
The clean and dry palay has 14 percent moisture content and 95 percent purity.
Aguirre said because of the volume of palay that they have now bought from the farmers, the amount is now about to be fully consumed.
Thus, he said they have asked for an additional funding of P17 million.
The additional amount will be used to continue on with the procurement program as harvesting in Iloilo and Guimaras is still at its peak.*PNA
