THE National Food Authority (NFA) said it will buy palay (unmilled rice) only from registered farmers to cut traders out of the palay procurement process.
Under the new rules, only verified farmers can sell palay to the NFA, the Department of Agriculture said in a statement, referring to cultivators listed on the government’s official farmers’ registry RSBSA (Registry System for the Basic Sectors in Agriculture) or who can show a certificate from their local government.
Each NFA branch must submit a monthly list of who sold palay and how much, for prominent display at the branch.
With farmer consent, branches can also share the purchase data on NFA social media, subject to privacy regulations.
Each NFA warehouse has been tasked with maintaining a table from where farmers’ groups can observe the buying process.
“This is to ensure that only legitimate farmers are selling to NFA and to address the allegations that traders are the ones benefitting from the NFA,” NFA Administrator Larry Lacson said. “These new rules will open up our palay procurement to public scrutiny.”
Farmers are dealing with declining farmgate prices of palay, which fell 28.9% year on year in May to an average of P17.75 per kilogram.
Month on month, the palay farmgate price fell 1.6% in May from P18.04 in April, according to government data.
Farmers can only sell up to the limit listed in their RSBSA records or in a list from the local government. NFA branches will also keep an eye on farmers who try to sell in areas where they are not registered.
Details of every delivery will be logged, including the farmer’s name, vehicle plate number, and time of arrival. Each sale will also be recorded in a Google Sheet by region and warehouse, and will be updated daily.
There will be regular checks of farmer records and sales. Any NFA employee caught gaming the system will be subject to penalties outlined in the Magna Carta for Small Farmers. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza
