ILOILO – Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. has sought for a “supply and demand inventory” of rice in the province.
On Sept. 2 he met with representatives of the following national government agencies: Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), National Food Authority (NFA), Bureau of Customs (BOC), and Provincial Agriculture Office (PAO) to discuss the rice situation of rice in Iloilo.
Defensor wanted data on the annual rice production in Iloilo, rice imports of the province from other regions, and the quantity of rice that Iloilo ships to other regions.
“Gusto naton balance. Indi kita gusto nga ang bugas mahal para sa konsumidor, nga ang humay nubo para sa mga mangungoma kag pierde man ang aton mga negosyante,” said Defensor, although he acknowledged that the provincial government has no control over the price of rice.
“We will not control the price ha, we will balance,” he clarified.
PAO head Dr. Ildefonso Toledo said the province targets a production of one million metric tons of palay this 2022.
In 2021, the province produced 800,000 metric tons of palay, and only between 500,000 to 600,000 metric tons in 2020.
Toledo, however, said Iloilo will remain “180 percent self-sufficient” even if it does not reach the target of one million metric tons this year.
“Wala kita problema dira,” he stressed.
For his part, NFA assistant regional manager Herrielle Jumagbas said Western Visayas has enough buffer stock and even has an excess reserved to stabilize the market when needed.
As of July 31, buffer stock from NFA Region 6 warehouses reached 122,537 bags of rice. Here is the breakdown per province:
* Aklan – 36,617 bags
* Capiz – 30,120 bags
* Antique – 5,579 bags
* Iloilo and Guimaras – 23,041 bags
* Negros Occidental – 17,181 bags
To further increase the buffer stock, NFA-6 continuously buy from local farmers at the price of P19 per kilogram for clean and dry palay with 14 percent moisture content. Here are the buying stations of the NFA-6:
* Dumangas, Pototan, San Dionisio and Dueñas in Iloilo province
* NFA office in Jaro, Iloilo City
* Jordan, Guimaras
* San Jose and Culasi in Antique
* Bolo, Roxas City; Dumalag and Sigma in Capiz
* Banga, Aklan/PN
