NFA tweaks bagging policy to save costs

The National Food Authority (NFA) will start accepting palay bagged in new and secondhand sacks to reduce handling cost and save money.

- Jasper Emmanuel Arcalas, Romina Cabrera, Bella Cariaso

The policy shift will allow the agency to generate savings from purchasing and using NFA sacks, which it previously used in bagging palay bought from farmers.

NFA Administrator Larry Lacson yesterday said the policy change would not compromise the quality of the staple.

Lacson said the pilot-testing of the new bagging policy would begin this harvest season along with a plan to buy about 20 percent of the NFA's target of 6.4 million pieces of 50-kilo bags from farmers.

If the pilot-testing succeeds, the agency will implement the policy next year, allowing up to 90 percent of palay to be bagged in farmers' sacks.