Philippines: NFA To Buy 1 Mil MT From Farmers

The Philippines National Food Authority, NFA, is planning to procure 1 million MT of palay from local farmers in the year 2009 in order to further boost the country's buffer of the grain.

The NFA buys clean and dry palay at P17 a kilo. For this year's main harvest, farmers get a cash incentive of P1,800 for every 50 bags of palay sold to the NFA.

According to the latest data from the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics showed that the NFA still holds the biggest volume at 933,400 MT, enough to last 28 days. Of the volume stocked in NFA warehouses, imported rice accounted for 90 %.