SAN JOSE, Occidental Mindoro (June 2, 2025) — Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr. on Monday led the National Food Authority’s (NFA) send-off of 35,000 bags of rice bound for Central Visayas,
Following the send-off, Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel, Jr., together with NFA Administrator Larry Lacson and DA-MIMAROPA Regional Executive Director Atty. Christopher R. Bañas, met informally with local farmers, many of whom have opted to wait for the NFA to resume buying palay at better rates. NFA offers P18 for fresh palay and up to P24 per kilo for dry compared to P13.50 to P18 per kilo from private traders, against an estimated production cost of P12 to P14 per kilo.
Administrator Lacson assured farmers that the NFA is expanding its national storage capacity, with repairs completed on nine warehouses that could hold up to 455,000 sacks. In Mindoro, he said repairs to another warehouse are nearly complete, which will help ease congestion and allow for increased palay procurement.
Once repairs are completed, NFA warehouses across Occidental Mindoro Island will have a total storage capacity of 1, 079,000 bags. Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that Oriental and Occidental Mindoro combined produced 653,117 metric tons of palay last year, accounting for 3.42% of national output.
As of May 30, NFA Occidental Mindoro branch has bought 405,219 bags, nearly double the target procurement of 228,00 bags of palay and 10 percent of the estimated harvest of 3.98 million bags. ### (Photo by Jay Morales, DA-OSEC)
