TABUK CITY, Kalinga – The National Food Authority provincial station has shipped out 7,000 bags of rice as the province’s contribution to the buffer stock of the National Capital Region.
NFA-Kalinga Assistant Manager Johnny Moldero said their station has also transported 15,000 bags of palay to NFA Region-2 warehouse in Echague, Isabela.
NFA-Kalinga has procured 42,000 bags of palay this harvest season. It may still increase as farmers continue to sell their produce to the agency.
NFA buys at P19 per kilogram for good dry palay while private traders here buy at P12 to14/kg.
Moldero said milling of palay is ongoing to beef up the province’s rice buffer stock for the last quarter. The present rice inventory of the province is 3,000 bags.
Based on the NFA new guidelines, the major function of the agency now is buffer stocking for disaster and emergency situations, in partnership with local government units.
However, NFA still supplies rice to accredited small rice outlets in strategic areas upon request, Moldero said.
In line with its mandate as government’s provider of cheap quality rice, NFA sells rice at P1,250 per bag. – Larry Lopez
