Budget Dept. gives NFA higher budget for 2012

The National Food Authority (NFA) has gotten the nod of the Budget Department to increase its budget allocation to P4 billion in 2012 from P2.5 billion in 2011, Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said Thursday. “[NFA needs] financial support to continue their mandate to provide assistance to our rice farmers," Alcala said on the sidelines of the 24th anniversary of the Bureau of Agricultural Research in Mandaluyong City. The NFA allocation forms part of the P61.7-billion budget the Department of Agriculture proposed to Congress for 2012. The NFA intends to use its corporate budget for its operations, including the procurement of palay from farmers. Through the NFA government serves a ready market for agricultural produce, buying palay at a premium. Government presently supports palay at a farmgate price of P17 per kilo. Meanwhile, Alcala said the DA is now responding to criticisms against the debt-ridden NFA that have also given rise to calls for its abolition. “We are now instituting reforms that will help transform the agency from being a cost-center to a self-financing, money-making government agency," Alcala said. — PE/VS, GMA News