The National Food Authority (NFA) in Negros Occidental has partnered with the Sipalay City government to buy palay (unhusked rice) from rice farmers in the southern Negros city for P26 per kilogram.

In a memorandum of agreement (MOA), the city government committed to adding a premium of P3 to the NFA support price of P23 per kg, which means the farmers can sell their palay to the agency for as much as P26 per kg.

The NFA offers P23 per kg for clean and dry palay at 14 percent moisture content — P19 for the base price and P4 for the buffer stocking incentive.

NFA-Negros Occidental acting branch manager Glenda Gonzales-Paz said the P3 additional premium provided by Sipalay City for every kilogram of palay delivered to NFA is the highest in Western Visayas this year.

“This will take effect upon downloading of the budget allocation to the NFA,” Gonzales-Paz told the Philippine News Agency.

Implemented under the Palay Marketing Assistance for Legislators and Local Government Units (PALLGU) Program, the partnership was sealed during the MOA signing between Mayor Maria Gina Lizares and NFA regional manager director Dianne Silva, together with city agriculturist Lani Yanong and Gonzales-Paz at the city’s New Government Center.

Those who can avail of the P26 per kg palay buying price are the farmers listed by the City Agriculture Office under the NFA’s PALLGU Program.

The NFA’s P23 per kg buying price took effect on September 20, upon the directive of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. to give Filipino farmers a better income.

In April this year, the NFA-Negros Occidental entered into its first PALLGU agreement with the Municipality of Valladolid led by Mayor Enrique Miravalles, which provided an additional premium of P1 per kg to the buying price availed by its rice farmers. (PNA)