The National Food Authority (NFA) is implementing a PHP10-billion modernization program to expand rice storage, upgrade processing facilities, and enhance post-harvest efficiency, ultimately reducing losses and increasing farmers’ income.

NFA Administrator Larry Lacson on Monday said these long-overdue upgrades would significantly improve rice and palay storage, ensuring better management of national rice inventory.

He said that while NFA’s current storage capacity is at 1 million metric tons, varying rice stock quality and age often hinder its full utilization.

“This expanded capacity will address storage constraints, and with new warehouses, milling, and drying equipment, efficiency will be maximized,” Lacson said in a news release.

The program, funded by the national government, will prioritize building new rice mills, modernizing drying facilities, and nearly doubling existing storage capacity.

Half of the PHP10-billion budget was granted last year, with the remaining PHP5 billion allocated for infrastructure projects in this year’s national budget.

The initiative includes PHP1.5 billion for warehouse modernization and PHP3.5 billion to add 800,000 metric tons of storage by 2025.

An additional PHP5 billion will go toward silos, drying facilities, and rice mills to improve processing and increase rice recovery rates.

Lacson said that with upgraded drying technology, farmers will be able to sell palay with higher moisture content, preventing traders from manipulating moisture levels in palay to drive down prices.

Lacson also underscored the need for regulatory reforms to improve buffer stock management.

While the law currently prevents the NFA from selling rice to the public, a food security emergency declaration on Feb. 3 by the Department of Agriculture allows local government units to access NFA rice stocks to stabilize prices.

By 2025, the NFA aims to purchase 545,000 metric tons of palay to maintain a nine-day buffer supply, increasing to 880,000 metric tons for a 15-day reserve under the amended Rice Tariffication Law.

The modernization projects are expected to be operational by late 2026, ahead of the 2027 summer harvest. The full upgrade will include silos in key rice-producing regions like Regions 2 and 3, enabling rice storage for up to two years —far longer than the current six months to a year for bagged rice. (PNA)