The National Food Authority (NFA) on Friday, July 19, announced it will keep its palay (unmilled rice) buying price competitive to help farmers maximize their earnings from their hard work.

In a meeting with farmer cooperatives and irrigators' associations in Davao Oriental, NFA Administrator Larry Lacson said that the price ceiling for clean and dry palay will remain at P30 per kilo.

“Unless revised by the NFA Council, our ceiling price for clean and dry palay will stay at P30 a kilo,” he said in a statement.

In a bid to compete more effectively with private traders, the NFA Council adjusted the palay buying price in mid-April to a new range of P17 to P30 per kilo, up from P16 to P23 per kilo.

Lacson and several NFA Council members are visiting the southern Philippines to hold discussions with farmers and NFA employees.

They reportedly assessed the facilities and rice inventory managed by the Department of Agriculture (DA).

According to the agriculture department, the NFA is legally obligated to maintain a national buffer stock of rice to ensure availability in emergencies.

By the end of the first half, the NFA had achieved a record procurement of 3.5 million tons of palay.

The NFA administrator acknowledged the logistical issues encountered by farmers' cooperatives and announced plans to acquire vehicles for transporting stocks directly from farms to warehouses, a measure included in the proposed 2025 budget.

As such, he outlined NFA’s modernization plan, which involves acquiring post-harvest facilities such as dryers and rice mills to boost rice processing capacity and efficiency.

Lacson said that the NFA will maintain close collaboration with farmers and industry stakeholders to address challenges and enhance agricultural practices and livelihoods nationwide.