SAN MIGUEL, Bulacan — Leaders of farmers and farming cooperatives urged the National Food Authority (NFA) to complete its modernization program in Bulacan province by the upcoming wet cropping season harvest.
Simeon Sioson, chairperson of the Lambakin Multipurpose Farmers’ Cooperative, led discussions Friday at the NFA warehouse here with provincial NFA officials.
The central concern was the readiness of post-harvest facilities.
“NFA post-harvest facilities in Bulacan are not enough to accommodate the farmers’ produce during harvest season, particularly during the wet season,” Sioson said.
He pointed out that San Miguel has the largest rice land area and is considered the province’s rice granary.
Charles Alingod, assistant branch manager of NFA Bulacan, acknowledged that the agency only has a 12-ton and a six-ton mechanical dryer at its San Miguel warehouse, and another six-ton in San Ildefonso.
He said they had requested the NFA central office and the Department of Agriculture to provide more post-harvest facilities in their Bulacan branches.
These include larger, state-of-the-art mechanical dryers, truck scales, rice mills and warehouses, Alingod added.
NFA-Bulacan records show that approximately 40,000 hectares in the province are planted with rice during the wet cropping season, compared to about 32,818 hectares during dry cropping season.
The provincial agriculture office estimates the average palay yield at 100 cavans per hectare, translating to an average yield of four million cavans during the wet season and 3,281,800 cavans during the dry season. (UnliNews Online)
