THE Department of Agriculture (DA) has clarified that National Food Authority (NFA’s) stocks are not at alarming levels, considering the buffer stock at 300,000 to 350,000 metric tons at any given time.
“Our rice supply is more than enough for our needs for the next few months,” DA Undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian for Rice Industry Development said.
The country’s national buffer stocks must refer to grains– whether palay or milled rice—held by traders from local purchases and imports and households.
For her part, DA Undersecretary Mercedita Sombilla for Policy, Planning and Regulation said that, “it would be faulty to compute NFA buffer stocks on the basis of the average national daily consumption of 37,362 MT since NFA stocks are now limited to emergency relief and for the requirements of the Department of Social Welfare and Development [DSWD].”
The NFA is mandated by the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL) to buy its buffer stocks only from local farmers to help them get better rates for their palay.
Moreover, the RTL buffer stock study of 2020 said the NFA inventory must be at 300,000 to 350,000 metric tons at any given time.
“However, the actual buffer stock of NFA now is only 53,060 MT. We indeed need to increase this level,” Sombilla said.
Meanwhile, Sebastian has placed the country’s rice supply at 5.7 million metric tons of palay harvested during the dry season and an additional 1.9 million MT of imported rice in stock and 1.8 million MT carry-over stock from 2022.
The country also has new harvest in July and August, albeit minimal.
Furthermore, DA’s latest bulletin shows that, per the assessment by Regional Field Offices (RFOs) in Cordillera Administrative Region, Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Western Visayas, Zamboanga
Peninsula, Soccsksargen and Caraga, damage and losses caused by Super Typhoon Egay in the agricultural and fishery sector now amounts to P4.47 billion.
The typhoon affected “170,510 farmers and fisherfolk, with total volume of production loss at 152,041 metric tons [MT] and 195,539 hectares [ha] of agricultural areas,” the bulletin shows.
The affected commodities include rice, corn, high-value crops, livestock and poultry, and fisheries.
Damage was also incurred in irrigation systems, agricultural and fishery infrastructures, and fishing paraphernalia.Damage and losses in rice amounted to P1.75 billion with affected area at 111,5477 ha and volume of production loss at 42,754 MT, or 0.21 percent of the total annual production target volume for rice at 19.76 million MT.
For corn, damage and losses amounted to P1.74 billion with affected area at 81,998 ha and volume of production loss at 95,658 MT, or 1.03 percent of the total annual production target volume for corn at 9.30 million MT.
‘Rice stocks are more than enough for next few months’
Source: News Paper Radio
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