BACOLOD CITY — The National Food Authority (NFA) in Negros Occidental will again borrow 10,000 bags of rice from Iloilo in case it runs short of buffer stocks while waiting for the arrival of its additional import allocation.
NFA-Negros Occidental Frisco Canoy said that as of Thursday, the province has about 11,000 bags of NFA rice.
The supply may still last for more than week, based on the 10-percent government rice participation in the province’s total daily consumption of 20,600 bags.
Canoy said they will obtain the additional supply from Iloilo, which is already unloading its 170,000 bags of imported rice allocation from Thailand this week.
The NFA-Western Visayas has assured Negros Occidental of its help if ever the province needs more supply, he added.
“We are looking at requesting an augmentation probably next week once the unloading is completed,” Canoy said.
He noted the stocks can be easily moved within the region so he sees no problem with the shipment from Iloilo to Negros Occidental.
In the first week of July, NFA-Negros Occidental also borrowed 10,000 bags of rice from Iloilo while waiting for the arrival of its imported rice allocation.
The following week, the 80,000 bags of imported rice from Thailand intended for Negros Occidental arrived at the Bredco port in Bacolod. So far, about 86 percent of the stocks have already been distributed.
The NFA-Negros Occidental is also expecting the arrival of 130,000 bags of imported rice soon.
Canoy said there is no assigned vessel and schedule of arrival yet. (/PNA)
