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TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines — The National Food Authority (NFA) in Eastern Visayas has increased the volume of rice it is selling in the region, as consumers shift from the high-priced commercial rice to the low-priced government rice.
NFA-8 regional manager Benjamin Marta said Monday the NFA distributed over 400,000 bags of rice through the public markets and accredited NFA retailers in the region, as of April 10.
"We are really anticipating that our market share for this year will increase compared to the previous years, as our people are now taking NFA rice due to its lower price compared with that of commercial rice available in the market," he said.
The NFA distributed 106,898 bags of rice in Leyte; 83,398 bags in Eastern Samar; 67,785 bags in Samar; 67,036 bags in Northern Samar; 45,575 bags in Southern Leyte; and 43,669 bags in Biliran.
In 2007, the market share of NFA rice in the region was 14.67 percent and in 2006, it was 13.04 percent.
With prices of commercial rice going up, Marta said the NFA's market share could reach as high as 20 percent. NFA rice is being sold at P18.25 per kilogram, while commercial rice is sold from P28 to as high as P38 per kilogram.
Marta also assured the public that as of April 14, the NFA had enough rice stocks to meet the demand. He estimated NFA-8's rice stock at about 285,000 bags, which would last until May.
He added that the NFA-8 was expected to receive 1.78 million more bags of rice in 2008.
Marta said he expected the supply of rice in the region to increase, with harvest time ongoing.
In 2007, the region's palay (rice) yield reached 948,00 metric tons, up from the 831,000 MT yield in 2006, despite two typhoons that battered the region. /Inquirer
