No room for rice shortage, assures NFA

The National Food Authority (NFA) in Bukidnon today assures the public that there is no rice shortage in the market contrary to the rumored crunch of the staple food mainly due to the El Niño phenomenon. NFA Provincial Manager Victoria Duray said there is no room for rice shortage because as of today, almost 177,000 bags of rice are available in NFA warehouses. Based on the data released by the National Statistics Office (NSO), Bukidnon has a monthly rice consumption of about 155,000 bags. "That volume of NFA rice reserve therefore is more than enough to meet the need of the province in a month," Duray said. NFA Bukidnon Informarion Officer Maria Socorro Mellomida said the province now has 189 'Tindahan Natin' outlets and 111 'Bigasan ng Bayan' outlets. "The NFA rice is sold at P18.25 in 'Tindahan Natin' and P25 a kilo in 'Bigasan ng Bayan' outlets. These accredited NFA rice outlets are spread all over the province but as to the Tindahan Natin, it's the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) that decides where to put them since it is directed to address areas with high poverty rates," Mellomida said. At present, market retail price of premium well-milled rice is P36.50 a kilo while the cheapest varieties range from P29-P33 per kilogram, according to the data from the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS)