Bigger budget for NFA

After a year of almost zero budget, the National Food Authority (NFA) will be allocated its own funds in 2012.

This was disclosed by Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala on Thursday, who noted that the corporate budget of the NFA will be raised to P4 billion from P2.5 billion this year.

NFA’s budget increase was reflected in the DA’s budget proposal for 2012, which will be tackled by Congress next week. The DA initially asked for an P80 billion outlay, but this was cut down to P61.7 billion.

“(The DA) is one of the government agencies whose budget for next year registered a big increase,” Alcala told the media on Thursday.

Alcala said the NFA’s budget will be used to fund the food agency’s operations, including the procurement of palay (rice grains) from farmers.

The NFA needs funds to buy palay from farmers to encourage them to plant rice, the country’s main staple. It is also tasked to keep the price of rice stable.