NFA releases stock to keep rice prices in Nueva Ecija low

SCIENCE CITY OF MUÑOZ — Government-subsidized rice will be available at National Food Authority-accredited (NFA) stores in Nueva Ecija province starting this week, to help stabilize market prices.

The stores have been allotted 70 cavans of rice that would be divided among nine retailers, an NFA-accredited dealer said.

The cheapest rice, called “sorter” rice, is sold at P27 a kilogram.

Sorter rice is a mixture of whole, broken, and chalky grains gathered at the end of the milling process and which is often bought for pets.

Since the third week of February, wholesale rice prices have risen from P36.90 to P40.33 a kg, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.

Traders were advised that the stock released by the NFA would be good only for a few weeks.

As of January, the available stock in Nueva Ecija totaled 8,700 bags, which had been reserved for calamity-stricken areas. —Anselmo Roque