The National Food Authority (NFA) said Wednesday the decision of its council to raise the buying price of palay (unhusked rice) has allowed the agency to exponentially increase its palay inventory within a month.

In a news release, the NFA Council raised the procurement price per kilogram of palay to PHP23 to PHP30 for clean and dry palay from PHP19 to PHP23 while the buying price for fresh and wet increased to PHP17 to PHP23 from PHP16 to PHP19 on April 11.

“This allowed NFA to compete with private traders in order to build its buffer stock. NFA started buying palay at higher prices on April 17,” the NFA said.

The last time the palay buying price increased was in September 2023.

During Thursday’s NFA Council meeting, the NFA reported that since the approval of the higher buying price for palay, the agency has procured an additional 2.41 million 50-kg. bags as of May 15.

Between Jan. 1 and April 15, NFA only procured 142,244 bags of palay.

“The new price scheme is really the game changer,” NFA acting administrator Larry Lacson said.

“I think the NFA Council’s strong understanding of NFA’s challenges has resulted in stronger collaboration. We thank Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. and the Council for this.”

In all, 2.5 million bags of palay were bought between Jan. 1 and May 15, representing 82.76 percent of the 3.08-million sacks target for the period.

“We’re still aiming to hit that target since there are other areas like Bulacan where farmers haven’t completed their rice harvest,” said Lacson.

“Farmers I spoke to are very happy with this initiative of the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to help farmers increase their income.”

As of May 15, the volume of milled rice has reached 111,720 metric tons, or 14.6 percent higher than in the same period last year.

He said the rice stocks would have been higher if not for disbursements for assistance to El Niño-affected areas. (PNA)