The Department of Agriculture (DA) is proposing the return of the government’s grains purchasing power to include corn and milled rice, in addition to palay or unmilled rice, as another major step to strengthen the country’s food security.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel has been urging lawmakers in both the Senate and the House of Representatives to restore the regulatory powers of the National Food Authority (NFA).

Tiu Laurel, who chairs the NFA Council, is seeking the authority to regulate supply, stabilize prices, intervene in times of crisis, and purchase palay.

These powers will be embodied under the amended Rice Tariffication Law (RTL), which the DA has been clamoring for.

Extending the purchase power to cover corn and milled rice is specifically under the proposed Rice Industry and Consumer Empowerment (RICE) Act, authored by House Speaker Martin Romualdez.

Tiu Laurel said, adding the new crops form part of the agency’s strategy to bolster good security by empowering the NFA to directly buy from local farmers and cooperatives.

“Corn is not just a rice substitute in the Visayas and Mindanao, it is the backbone of the country's feed production for our poultry and livestock sectors,” said Tiu Laurel in a statement on Tuesday, Sept. 9.

“These sectors are central to the vision of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of a food-secure Philippines,” he added.

Based on data from the DA’s national corn program, yellow corn accounts for 46 percent of feed used in livestock and 62 percent in poultry.

Despite this, the agency said only 2.5 million hectares are planted to corn, which supports over 1.1 million Filipino farmers.

Citing government data, the DA said the gross value added of corn last year ₱116.29 billion, only trailing behind corn and ahead of coconut and sugar.

Granting the NFA to procure corn is seen to be critical during peak wet harvest season to guarantee fair prices for farmers.

Tiu Laurel added that the power to purchase milled rice will ensure sustainability and provide market assurance for cooperatives.

“We must make these multi-million-peso facilities work for the farmers they were meant to serve,” he said.

Last month, the secretary floated the potential of requiring importers to take part in maintaining the country’s rice buffer stocks as part of the proposed amendments to the RTL.

He said this initiative will reduce the cost of buffer stocking for the government.

Tiu Laurel earlier flagged the RTL for threatening to “kill” the rice industry instead of its intention to reform it.