BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya – The National Food Authority here has prepared millions of pesos coming from the national funds to be used for the purchase of farmer’s main palay harvest season amid protests from traders that the food agency’s high buying price is taking away a large chunk of their profits.
Acting on instructions from Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Arthur Yap, the provincial office of NFA has also prepared warehouses and mobile buying stations to better facilitate the influx of rice stocks which is expected to come during the peak harvest season between October and December.
Yap issued these directives following a DA plan to double the NFA’s procurement volume from 500,000 metric tons in previous years to one million tons come harvest time.
According to Antonio Panganiban, NFA Nueva Vizcaya provincial manager, his office has already set up mobile stations scattered in major areas in the province and allotted more warehouse spaces in preparation for the peak season harvest stock.
“Our farmers here are now slowly but steadily trickling in to take advantage of our government’s rice procurement service, they have already noticed the benefits constituted within the program, “he said, while citing that the government buying price of P17 per kilo for dry palay is still a better deal compared to present market prices influenced by private rice traders.
“The provincial NFA office here may even surpass the expected 45,000 bags set to be procured, to 60,000 bags before the year ends, “he added.
Panganiban however, said that he has nothing against traders who are just engaged in the free enterprise system but “there is also a lot of work to be done to educate farmers on the wisdom of the national government’s rice procurement system.”
“We still maintain the additional incentive of P1,800 for every 50 bags of clean and dry palay that the farmers will sell to us but some of them still prefer to sell their harvest to private traders because they don’t want to go through the hassle of applying for a passbook, they will go through it only once anyway, I hope they can find time to cooperate with us, ”Panganiban said.
Recently, the DA has encouraged farmers to secure passbooks in order for them to enjoy the advantage of getting high buying price for their produce and also benefit from the additional cash incentive.
However, NFA officials here lamented that many farmers still cannot free themselves from the age old practice of depending on palay traders for loans whether for personal use or to finance their farming requirements.
“Many traders, and some cooperatives also act as loan sharks, they exploit the farmers who borrow money from them, in return, they will dictate the buying price of palay which is way below the government price, “one NFA official said, adding that some cooperatives even use unsuspecting farmers or farmer groups in conniving with private traders to sway palay prices to their advantage.
An old time palay trader in the commercial town of Solano however, admitted that they have started to feel the crunch of the NFA’s aggressive palay buying campaign.
“It seems like NFA has already become a new market force unlike before when we are not even bothered by their presence, “the trader said while admitting that he has been reviewing his business stand if it’s high time for him to cooperate for a mutual benefit with NFA.
Despite the long and arduous work ahead in uplifting the farmer’s lives and educating them to take advantage of the government’s support, NFA officials here believe that the tide would turn to their advantage soon, as long as the government itself will not renege from their promise of a better future for the Filipino farmer.
Acting on instructions from Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Arthur Yap, the provincial office of NFA has also prepared warehouses and mobile buying stations to better facilitate the influx of rice stocks which is expected to come during the peak harvest season between October and December.
Yap issued these directives following a DA plan to double the NFA’s procurement volume from 500,000 metric tons in previous years to one million tons come harvest time.
According to Antonio Panganiban, NFA Nueva Vizcaya provincial manager, his office has already set up mobile stations scattered in major areas in the province and allotted more warehouse spaces in preparation for the peak season harvest stock.
“Our farmers here are now slowly but steadily trickling in to take advantage of our government’s rice procurement service, they have already noticed the benefits constituted within the program, “he said, while citing that the government buying price of P17 per kilo for dry palay is still a better deal compared to present market prices influenced by private rice traders.
“The provincial NFA office here may even surpass the expected 45,000 bags set to be procured, to 60,000 bags before the year ends, “he added.
Panganiban however, said that he has nothing against traders who are just engaged in the free enterprise system but “there is also a lot of work to be done to educate farmers on the wisdom of the national government’s rice procurement system.”
“We still maintain the additional incentive of P1,800 for every 50 bags of clean and dry palay that the farmers will sell to us but some of them still prefer to sell their harvest to private traders because they don’t want to go through the hassle of applying for a passbook, they will go through it only once anyway, I hope they can find time to cooperate with us, ”Panganiban said.
Recently, the DA has encouraged farmers to secure passbooks in order for them to enjoy the advantage of getting high buying price for their produce and also benefit from the additional cash incentive.
However, NFA officials here lamented that many farmers still cannot free themselves from the age old practice of depending on palay traders for loans whether for personal use or to finance their farming requirements.
“Many traders, and some cooperatives also act as loan sharks, they exploit the farmers who borrow money from them, in return, they will dictate the buying price of palay which is way below the government price, “one NFA official said, adding that some cooperatives even use unsuspecting farmers or farmer groups in conniving with private traders to sway palay prices to their advantage.
An old time palay trader in the commercial town of Solano however, admitted that they have started to feel the crunch of the NFA’s aggressive palay buying campaign.
“It seems like NFA has already become a new market force unlike before when we are not even bothered by their presence, “the trader said while admitting that he has been reviewing his business stand if it’s high time for him to cooperate for a mutual benefit with NFA.
Despite the long and arduous work ahead in uplifting the farmer’s lives and educating them to take advantage of the government’s support, NFA officials here believe that the tide would turn to their advantage soon, as long as the government itself will not renege from their promise of a better future for the Filipino farmer.
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