NFA sees stable rice supply on lean months

cThe National Food Authority (NFA) yesterday said there is sufficient rice supply for the country’s requirements amidst the possible early entry of the monsoon season and with barely six weeks before the lean months start.

NFA Administrator Jessup Navarro made the assurance in the wake of Typhoon “Emong,” which left a swath of destruction on agricultural crops particularly in Pangasinan province and some parts of Northern Luzon.

Navarro said the government’s proactive rice importation and the intensive palay procurement during the last main harvest and during the summer crop beefed up the agency’s rice inventory.

As of the first week of May, he said the NFA has 21.9 million bags of rice, which is sufficient for the next five months, based on the agency’s average daily rice sales.

The agency’s rice inventory is also capable of sustaining the country’s food security rice requirement for 31 days, based on the country’s daily requirement of 35,000 metric tons, he added. “Our stock inventory at present is more than double the required 15-day food security buffer,” Navarro said.

Learning from last year’s rice supply aberrations, he said the NFA has implemented several strategies to improve its grains inventory, including increasing in its domestic palay procurement.

Navarro said the NFA is aiming to buy 18.5 million bags of palay this year, higher than the 13.2 million bags it procured in 2008. –PNA