NFA modernizes rice storage

The government is rolling out the one-tonner bagging system for palay (unmilled rice) as part of a modernization effort to reduce storage costs and ultimately improve the country's buffer stocking.

- BY DEXTER BARRO II

The National Food Authority (NFA) announced on Friday, Oct. 17, that it will start using flexible intermediate bulk containers, also known as toon bags, to promote efficiency across its nationwide warehouses.

The tonner bags are made of high-strength woven polypropylene or polyethylene, designed to carry up to one ton of rice, or the equivalent of 20 50-kilogram (kg) sacks.

The NFA will first pilot the system to validate the "perceived" operational benefits of tonner bags under real conditions through time-and-motion and process comparisons against traditional sacks.

Among the benefits that the agency will validate are better space utilization, improved loading and unloading efficiency, and cost-effectiveness, among others.

The tonner bags will be piloted in Nueva Ecija, Occidental Mindoro, and Davao del Sur.