The National Food Authority (NFA) is optimistic about buying up to 500,000 metric tons (MT) of palay (unmilled rice) during the wet harvest season amid the El Niño, to bolster its inventory.
However, NFA Administrator Larry Lacson said in a press briefing on Friday the agency would fall short of achieving its full-year palay procurement target of 790,000 MT for 2026 in case of a severe El Niño.
‘Everything they (farmers) sell to me, as long as it’s clean and dry, I can absorb up to 500,000 metric tons,’ Lacson told reporters on the sidelines of the NFA’s 54th anniversary celebration.
Lacson said the NFA has P11 billion left in palay procurement funds for this year, while the Department of Agriculture (DA) has committed an additional P10 billion in standby funds if more money is needed to purchase locally produced palay.
The NFA chief said they have expanded its storage capacity by freeing up as much warehouse storage as possible, allowing it to accommodate more freshly harvested palay during the harvest season.
Lacson also said the NFA has leased another 65 warehouses to accommodate about 200,000 MT of palay to avoid encountering previous problems when it could no longer buy farmers’ harvest due to warehouses reaching full storage capacity.