The National Food Authority (NFA) said on Wednesday that it was able to increase its palay inventory after marking up its buying prices from local farmers.

According to the Department of Agriculture (DA) attached corporation, as of 15 May this year, an additional 2.41-million 50-kilo bags were procured since improving its buying prices for palay.

From 1 January to 15 April, a total of 142,244 sacks of palay were procured.

On 11 April, the NFA increased the purchase price for palay after admitting their thin procurement due to private traders outbidding them with higher buying prices.

With the improved prices, the clean and dry palay now has a buying price range of P23 to P30 per kilogram, while the fresh and wet palay is priced at P17 to P23 per kilogram.

From the previous buying prices, clean and dry were priced at P19 to P23 per kilogram, while fresh and wet were priced at P16 to P19 per kilogram.

“The new price scheme is really the game changer,” NFA officer-in-charge administrator Larry Lacson said.

“I think the NFA Council’s strong understanding of the NFA's challenges has resulted in stronger collaboration. We thank Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel, Jr., and the Council for this,” he added, noting that the agency is still aiming to hit their 3.08 million palay bags target as farmers in some rice-producing areas like Bulacan haven’t completed their harvest.

From 1 January to 15 May, a total 2.5 million palay bags were procured, which is 82.76 percent of the said target volume for the period.

“Farmers I spoke to are very happy with this initiative of the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to help farmers increase their income," Lacson added.

As of 15 May, the volume of secured milled rice now stands at 111,720 metric tons, or 14.6 percent higher than the same period last year.

Lacson said rice inventory would have been higher if not for disbursements for assistance to El Nino-hit areas.

The NFA chief earlier said he does not see the change in their purchasing prices affecting the rice prices in markets.

DA's latest price monitoring showed that imported special rice is priced at P57 to P65 per kilo, and the premium is between P50 and P62 per kilo; well-milled is P51 to P54 per kilo, and regular milled is P49 to P51 per kilo.

Local commercial special rice, on the other hand, is priced between P56 and P66 per kilo, with the premium variety at P51 and P58, well milled from P48 to 55 per kilo, and regular milled at P45 to P52 per kilo.