The National Food Authority in Negros Occidental has sufficient and stable supply of rice, while its prices in the commercial market remains at P35 per kilo for well-milled and P30 for regular, Jobe Chua, assistant provincial manager of NFA, said yesterday.

As of Thursday, the rice situation report of NFA showed that the province has a total of 1,450 781 bags coming from the commercial sector, the household group, and from the NFA buffer stocks.

Chua said the figure is sufficient for 65 days assuming that the daily consumption of the province is 22,740 bags. However, he clarified that the numbers are not stable and are fluctuating because of the inflow and the outflow of rice in the province.

But Chua assured the public that there will be no rice shortage in the province, adding that more commercial stocks from Panay, Bicol, Manila, and Mindoro are coming to the province because of the high buying price of the grains retailers in Negros.

He said this usually happens when prices of rice in these rice-producing provinces is lower compared to the buying rate in Negros Occidental.

Chua added that NFA rice supply of the province is mostly from the Panay Island while the commercial supply comes from other provinces and local growers of the staple in Negros. *LTG

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