THE National Food Authority (NFA) said on Monday that it procured 123,561 metric tons (MT) of palay, or unmilled rice, in October, equivalent to 2.47 million sacks of 50 kilograms each.
In a report, the NFA said the October procurement was 79.98% of its target of 154,497 MT.
“Increase in the procurement as compared to the preceding months can be attributed to the good harvest of the main cropping season and the implementation of the Council-approved Price Range Scheme (PRICERS) for palay procurement activity,” the NFA said.
The PRICERS program sets a buying range of palay per province at prices designed to be competitive against prices offered by traders.
The NFA had approved a price range of P23 to P25 pesos per kilogram of dry palay.
The NFA is targeting a palay inventory of 435,000 MT before the end of the year. It is required to maintain a rice reserve equivalent to about nine days’ demand.
As of Oct. 31, the NFA’s inventory of milled rice was 244,724.78 MT or 4.89 million sacks.
“It should be noted that NFA’s inventory is 9.10% of the national rice inventory,” it added.
The national rice inventory rose to 2.46 million MT in November, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority. — Adrian H. Alternate
