NFA Plans to Import 860K Metric Tons of Rice this Year

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Basog: Close-up of the alley that demarcates the boundary of rice paddies and ownership. Another promise of a bountiful harvest season in Calabanga.

In one of our trip to Legazpi city this week, we chanced upon a government building where sacks full of stinking NFA rice were stacked up near its entrance. The building can be found fronting the Peñaranda park, just opposite the city hall. Of course, it’s of no use holding up to those physical vestiges of ineptness and error of a government agency for such long a time. Go ahead, dump the rotten grains, which anyway are not consumable anymore. We stopped short of taking a photo due there were employees guarding the entry.

Here in Calabanga, rice fields are green and yellowish with the promise of rich harvest in a few weeks from now. Harvest season begins soon and would last until May or June.

Meanwhile, the Philippine’s national food authority (NFA) starts this month its tender for the importation of 660,000 metric tons of rice. This was learned from admnistrator Angelito Banayo.

The grains agency plans to hold the rice tender for the grains to be made available starting June or July covering sagging low months of local rice harvest.

A total of 860K metric tons of rice, with 200,000 MT the NFA will task itself to import and the majority (660K) will be imported by the private sector.

The inter-agency committee, meanwhile, recommended the importation of up to a ceiling of 1.3 million MT.

The participation of the private business sector on grains importation is being boosted by the availment of the use of the tax expenditure fund which is only allotted for the private sector. Its use is being regulated and approved by the fiscal incentives review board, in return. The fund shoulders the tariff duties incurred for the imporation.(https://cbanga360.net)

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