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Will China Be Buying African Rice? Vietnam to miss benefits of global rice market recovery Typhoon hurts China orange, cane, rice crops FCI takes sea-river-road route to move rice Rice strategies for five years drawn up NFA eyes additional imports of 400,000 MT P11.8-M palay lost to ‘Glenda’ Gross revenue from rice hits N750bn – FG GM Rice Researcher Fights Retraction Banayo denies providing legal cover to rice smugglers
News Detail… Will China Be Buying African Rice? By Deborah Brautigam | July 22, 2014
vredeseilanden/flickr Recently colleagues at Devex published a story about what China’s move away from grain self-sufficiency means for African agriculture. Curiously, they illustrated this story with the photo and caption above, of a pile of 50kg bags of rice coming into Senegal. The caption reads: ―Chinese rice imports at the port of Dakar, Senegal. China is exploring ways to feed its growing population using food grown in Africa.‖ Devex
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said these imports are from China. As the Ameropa label shows, this is unlikely. Ameropa is a Swiss multinational with a branch that specializes in importing Asian rice for African markets. The rice in this photo was probably sourced in Vietnam or Thailand, not China. As our recent SAIS-CARI conference on Chinese agricultural investment in Africa pointed out, China is not exploring ways to feed its growing population using food grown in Africa. At least, not yet.I wrote my first book ―Chinese Aid and African Development‖ analyzing the problems and challenges faced by Chinese rice projects in West Africa, so this is a special interest of mine. Here’s what is going on in Senegal — excerpted from an excellent analysis by Adama Wade at Financialafrik.com. Senegal, with 13 million inhabitants, is the world’s tenth biggest importer with 700,000 to 900,000 tonnes per year…It is strange that the rice produced in central Vietnam, transported to Ho Chi Min Port, loaded in bulk and shipped to the ports of Abidjan or Dakar, landed and then transported by road to Bobo Dioulasso or St. Louis is preferred by the population and is cheaper than local rice», wonders aloud an operator, formerly shareholder of Glencore International. Local production accounts for 200,000 tonnes of paddy rice, the equivalent of 140,000 tonnes of local rice. The Government’s goal is to reach 1 million tonnes by 2015, including 800,000 tonnes produced through irrigated rice. The Senegalese Government has made food self-sufficiency its key priority. But, there are still some inconsistencies. More tax incentives are given to investors who make 80% of their turnover from exports. Amazing! This is just the tip of the iceberg- while Asian producers receive subsidies on energy, water and fertilizers, in the Senegal River Valley, support mechanisms remain elusive. So, there are no energy subsidies for rice production and development (offset). Urea, which was subsidised by 50% between 2006 and 2011 and sold at CFAF 6,000 now costs CFAF 9,000. Although the price of DAP actually decreased, the quantity available barely covers half of the requirements. There is an energy challenge in the processing of local rice. There are fixed monthly electricity costs. Whether you work or not, you pay CFAF 250,000 a month.Under such conditions, can local rice sold at CFA 12,500 mill price (12,500 for whole grain rice) be competitive and generate enough income for a quantitative and qualitative leap?Adama’s analysis makes it clear why the Chinese are not likely to be coming to Senegal for their rice. When it comes to that — if it does — they will go to Vietnam. Just as the Senegalese do.
Vietnam to miss benefits of global rice market recovery VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam unfortunately sold much of its rice before the global rice market began recovering, with export prices increasing by $10 per ton.
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Chair of the Vietnam Food Association (VFA) Nguyen Hung Linh on July 17 said that Vietnam’s rice export price had stayed at $390 per ton, or $10 per ton higher than a couple of weeks before. The domestic price in Mekong River Delta has been increasing by VND50-150 per kilo.Tran Thanh Van, deputy director of Gentraco, a rice export company in Can Tho City, said the rice price has been escalating because rice exporters had rushed to collect rice from farmers to fulfill export contracts signed before with the Philippines.
As they have to deliver goods by mid-August, they need to speed up rice collection.The rice price increases, however, have not made farmers happy. Nguyen Thanh Phong, a farmer in Tra Vinh Province, said he sold the summer-autumn rice one month ago already.―I sold the rice at low prices and I made a modest profit of VND2 million for every 1,000 square meter of rice field,‖ he said. ―The price has moved up, but I have no more to sell.‖―I heard from merchants that the rice prices would go down further because Vietnam cannot sign more export contracts. Therefore, I decided to sell rice one month ago to get money to pay bank loans and other expenses,‖ he said.Nguyen Phu Quoc, a farmer in Dong Thap province, said he sold three hectares of IR 50404 rice one weeks ago at VND4,600 per kilo and he now regrets it because the price continues rising. Head of the Phung Hiep district’s agriculture sub-department Nguyen The Tu has confirmed that the rice price in the locality has increased by VND100 per kilo over two weeks ago.―I heard that merchants are hunting for rice because Vietnamese enterprises have signed more export contracts,‖ he said. ―If only farmers had known that the rice price would go up…‖―If only the Vietnam Food Association (VFA) had given forecasts about the market demands and the prices, so that farmers could plan their production plans…‖ he said.
Nguyen Phuoc Tuyen from the Dong Thap provincial agriculture department has said that the rice price would stay high amid high demand in the world market.Vietnam has won the bid to export one million tons of rice, including the bid to export 800,000 tons to the Philippines and 200,000 tons to Malaysia. Meanwhile, India, a big rival of Vietnam, is suffering from drought. Vietnam’s five percent broken rice now can be sold at $425 per ton, up by $5 per ton over the beginning of the month, $15 per ton over June and $40 per ton over the same period of the last year.VFA’s Chair Nguyen Hung Linh has predicted that the target of exporting 7.2 million tons of rice this year is within reach. NLD Tags:rice market,rice prices,
Typhoon hurts China orange, cane, rice crops
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China's top orange grower revealed "significant" damage to a 1.4m-tree plantation from Typhoon Rammasun, reckoned to be the worst storm to hit the south of the country in 41 years.Asian Citrus Holdings said that Rammasun, which brought 130mph winds to southern China last week, had caused "widespread damage", with press agency Xinua reporting 33 deaths and $1.7bn of damage on the island province of Hainan alone.World Weather said that the typhoon "moved through Hainan and south western Guangdong, China Friday into the weekend producing some very heavy rainfall and flooding", including to rice and cane areas."Rain totals over 15 inches occurred in the Luichow Peninsula of Guangdong and greater totals occurred in Hainan."For Asian Citrus itself, the "impact of the typhoon in Guangxi, where our Hepu Plantation is located, is significant", the company said.Citrus shares fell 6.4% to 12.73p in lunchtime deals in London, although the group said it would take "a period of time" to assess the exact financial impact of the damage. Cursed by poor weather Typhoon damage represents the latest in a series of weather setbacks at Hepu, which covers 31,000 square kilometres, with "unstable" conditions in 2012 blamed for an outbreak of citrus canker, a bacterial disease which causes leaves and fruit to drop prematurely.Hepu's output fell 23% to 116,720 tonnes in the year to the end of June last year, with the direct impact of canker exacerbated by losses to a replanting programme.This year, ill-timed frost has already added to the plantation's weather setbacks, prompting Asian Citrus last month to reveal that Hepu's production of summer oranges had fallen to 49,540 tonnes – below the 57,367 tonnes a year before, and contracted volumes of 57,000 tonnes.The group cut to 197,467 tonnes, from 218,600 tonnes, its estimate for production for the year to the end of last month.Asian Citrus has planted 220,000 banana trees at Hepu, which has 1.2m orange trees, in an attempt to diversify its risk, and which are due for their first harvest in September. Another typhoon Typhoon Rammasun has also reportedly caused 94 deaths in the Philippines, and at least 11 in Vietnam, where it made landfall over the weekend.In China, an estimated 600,000 people have been evacuated.And the region is braced for further devastation with a second typhoon, Matmo, set to strike, on a slightly more northerly course."Typhoon Matmo will move toward Taiwan and south eastern China the next two days with landfall late Tuesday night and Wednesday in Taiwan and south eastern China Wednesday," World Weather said."Damage to rice and sugarcane is expected as the storm rolls into the region," with Taiwan to suffer the "greatest" losses.
FCI takes sea-river-road route to move rice AMIT MITRA Will pay only half the cost for moving the cereal by rail-road from Vizag to Agartala
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HYDERABAD, JULY 22:
After taking the coastal route to move foodgrains from Kakinada to Kerala earlier this year, the Food Corporation of India is now trying out a new sea-river-road route to move rice from Visakhapatnam to Agartala through Bangladesh to save on transportation costs.FCI despatched its first consignment of 5,000 tonnes of rice from Visakhapatnam to Agartala using AllCargo Logistics’s multipurpose vessel, Laxmi, earlier this month.With both the movements yielding significant savings in transportation costs, FCI is expected to continue using these two routes on a regular basis, besides exploring new options for coastal movement.It first started with the movement of 20,000 tonnes of foodgrains from Kakinada to Kerala along the coast earlier this year.After a couple of more such movements, FCI has decided to move similar parcels of foodgrains along this route every month.In the latest experiment, it despatched the rice parcel from Visakhapatnam to Diamond Harbour in Kolkata. It will then be loaded on to barges to take the river route to Ashuganj in Bangladesh, before taking the road route to Akura and finally in trucks to Agartala. As the movement involves passage through Bangladesh, it is regulated by Protocol on Inland Water Trade and Treaty signed between India and Bangladesh. ―The entire movement is likely to take 15 days including loading and discharge, as some extra days are required for necessary permission. But subsequent journeys along this route will take shorter time and be much cheaper than rail or road movement,‖ Ashok Shrivastava, CEO (Shipping Services) of AllCargo Logistics, said. The transportation cost is likely to be half of what it would take for the parcel to be despatched by the conventional rail-road route through Punjab-Haryana, he told Business Line.After FCI, steel makers such as Tatas and Jindal are exploring options to move steel from Kolkata to Mongla in Bangladesh through coastal route, while Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd has expressed interest to buy some barges for coastal movement of its products.In January, the Government proposed a new incentive package for coastal shipping, but it could not be implemented due to the elections.The Modi Government is now expected to soon clear the proposal, which include a cash incentive of 50 paise per tonne per nautical mile to manufacturers of eight commodities, including steel, fertiliser and cement to shift to coastal movement. (This article was published on July 22, 2014)
Rice strategies for five years drawn up Petchanet Pratruangkrai The Nation July 23, 2014 1:00 am
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The Commerce Ministry and relevant state agencies, as well as stakeholders in the rice industry, yesterday finished chalking out five development strategies, and six marketing strategies for implementation from 2015-2020.The strategies will be finalised again next week and proposed to the National Council for Peace and Order by the end of this month.The proposals call for the setting up of a "rice board" to pursue strategies in the long run without any political involvement. The five development strategies are:
l Develop rice farmers and rice production and the value chain. Farmers will be educated on cost reduction and encouraged to become "smart farmers" so that they no longer need to rely on government subsidies. The government will cooperate with private enterprises to establish a community knowledge centre to encourage farmers to grow quality rice, serve the demands of niche markets, increase value-addition, and create a fair trading system.l Involved agencies such as the Agriculture Ministry, farmers, local millers, and cooperatives will join forces to develop the rice-trading system as "modern trading" so that farmers can lower their costs. The farmers will be encouraged to adapt more mechanisation for cultivation and harvesting. Zoning for alternative crops will be promoted in some areas, as some land is not suitable for growing rice. The government will also develop plantation areas and improve irrigation systems, logistics, transport, and soil quality in areas that are suited to growing rice.l Support research and development of rice seeds and growing methods. The government will cooperate with private enterprises to launch insurance for rice production in case of natural disasters, while a rice fund will be established to support research and development in the rice industry. Under this step, the Finance Ministry will collect a 1-per-cent fee from the rice traders' revenues and incomes of exporters. The fund will have a Bt2-billion annual budget. Rice board Charoen Laothamatus, president of the Thai Rice Exporters Association, said a "rice board" comprising all stakeholders government agencies, farmers, millers, exporters and academics - should be set up. The board should have independent authority, and draw up a national road map for development of the rice industry.l Develop a rice-trading system and support the market mechanism. The Agriculture Futures Exchange of Thailand will be modernised and put under the Stock Exchange of Thailand.In addition, the six marketing strategies include the creation of a fair trading system. More rice-polishing plants will be promoted in the next five years, to cover at least 80 per cent of the country's rice-plantation areas. Thailand will be promoted as a global centre for rice polishing. The standard of Thai rice grains will be improved to international standards and in addition, domestic consumption of Thai rice will be increased by 5 per cent within five years. Thailand will be promoted as a rice-trading centre. Rice-export volume and value are targeted to increase by 10 per cent in five years, while at least five new export markets will be penetrated.Thailand will also adopt international standards of rice production and trading, such as carbon credits and waste management. The logistics system in the rice supply chain will be developed under
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the ministry's strategy.To ensure farmers' incomes, Thai Rice Growers Association president Vichian Phuang-lumjiek has called for the government to set up a middle price for paddy rice in the market at Bt10,000-Bt12,000 a tonne so that farmers will be able to earn some profit.He pointed out that production costs had climbed in the past few years to more than Bt6,000 a tonne. Rice farmers do not seek high subsidies or any pledging, but they at least need to make some profit.
NFAeyes additional imports of 400,000 MT Intensified releases deplete agency’s inventory By Ronnel W. Domingo |Philippine Daily Inquirer 12:11 am | Wednesday, July 23rd, 2014 The National Food Authority’s highest decision-making body is considering to import an additional 400,000 tons of milled rice from Vietnam, double the volume that was previously announced. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/RAFFY LERMAThe National Food Authority’s highest decision-making body is considering to import an additional 400,000 tons of milled rice from Vietnam, double the volume that was previously announced. Additional imports on top of the 800,000 tons that were bought last April was on the table in Tuesday’s NFA Council meeting as the intensified release of NFA rice into the market threatened to deplete the agency’s inventory.According to the Philippine Statistical Authority, the NFA was holding as of June 1 only 1.08 million tons or 12 days’ worth of supply.The NFA is responsible for maintaining a buffer stock that should last half a month, which, at a national consumption rate of 34,000 MT a day, was about 500,000 MT.
Secretary Francis Pangilinan, presidential assistant for food security and agriculture modernization, earlier ordered the NFA to double the daily release of milled rice to 25,800 sacks from 12,500 sacks amid rising prices of commercially available rice.The NFA sells regular-milled rice at P27 a kilo as well as well-milled rice at P32 a kilo.In Pasig City alone, the NFA put up an additional 12 outlets to bring the total to 14 accredited retailers.The move is part of efforts to temper prices as commercial well-milled rice now commands P45 a kilo in the city and nearby areas.According to the NFA, it now has a total of 173 accredited NFA outlets in the cities of Pasig of and Marikina and the adjacent areas of Rizal province. These outlets account for an average 3,500 bags of NFA rice daily. The recent onslaught of Typhoon ―Glenda‖ did not help the NFA’s inventory-keeping as it released 7,500 sacks to evacuation areas, but also lost at least 13,000 sacks due to damaged warehouses.The NFA said in a situation report that it kept open its warehouses at the height of Glenda’s rampage to provide supplies to affected communities, especially in Ilocos, Central Luzon, Southern Tagalog, Bicol, Eastern Visayas and Metro Manila.Worst-hit Bicol received the biggest portion of the emergency rice supply with 5,800 sacks while
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Eastern Visayas got about 2,000 sacks. Ilocos received 100 sacks while Southern Tagalog had 120 sacks and Metro Manila, 170 sacks.
P11.8-M palay lost to ‘Glenda’ By Ian Ocampo Flora Tuesday, July 22, 2014
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- The recent onslaught of Typhoon Glenda here has left some P11.8 million in palay damages in Pampanga placing it on top of the four provinces affected by the most powerful typhoon to hit the country since super typhoon Yolanda.The Department of Agriculture (DA), in its Summary of Progress Damage Report on Rice as of July 21, reported that some 695.47 metric tons of palay have been affected in Pampanga with some 762 hectares of rice farmlands registered as partially damaged. Most of the damaged palay crops are within their maturity stage, according to the report.Majority of the affected palay crops are in the towns of San Luis, Lubao, Floridablanca and San Simon, among others. The report also showed that Bataan, Bulacan, Pampanga and Zambales provinces sustained combined damages worth P18,914,380. Bataan province sustained some P5.7 million in rice crop damages followed by Bulacan with P771,917 and Zambales with P543,002.DA regional director Andrew Villacorta said that the agency is now validating the reported damages to ensure that proper support and rehabilitation programs are set in place.He added that the DA is continuously monitoring rice production in the province and the whole of Central Luzon in order to meet rice targets for the year.The DA said that a total of 1,289 seedling bags would be needed for distribution to the affected farmers.As for rice production in Central Luzon, the DA said it is optimistic that farmers could still catch up with the current wet cropping season, as most of the farmers in the region are still in the preliminary stages of planting.
Gross revenue from rice hits N750bn – FG JULY 22, 2014 BY OKECHUKWU NNODIM, ABUJA The total gross revenue from the production of rice being added to Nigeria’s economy in the past three years is N750bn, the Federal Government has said.According to the government, farmers and small scale rice processors in the country made a net income worth N407bn as a result of the ongoing transformation in the rice sub-sector.The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, who disclosed this in a statement, also noted that with the new drive in rice production and the amount of arable land to cultivate the crop in the country, Nigeria has the capacity to produce sufficient rice for its populace.Adesina said rice can be grown in all the states in Nigeria except for one state, adding that the economic impact of the crop was enormous.
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He said, ―When we started, only 10 states grow rice, but now 22 states are growing rice. The total gross value of rice added to the domestic economy over the last three years was about N750bn. So you can see that we are creating value to the domestic economy because we are engaging people to work. We are also increasing the GPD of those states.‖The minister said the government had increased the area of cultivation in rice by 1.9million hectares, and observed that farmers in Nigeria were getting five to six tons per hectare yield with the new variety of rice introduced recently in the country.Adesina revealed that rice importers in Nigeria get empty bags of imported rice, give these bags to Nigerian rice millers to fill them with local rice and sell the product at the cost of the foreign rice. He said the recently introduced rice policy which raised tariff on imported rice was done to give Nigerian farmers a fighting chance to increase their production.The agric minister said the policy, which had been relaxed, gave rise to the establishment of small scale millers all over the country ―and this has really increased production.‖On mechanisation, Adesina said the Federal Government used to import tractors, but currently, private sector investors had established 200 agricultural equipment hiring centres across the federation.The idea behind the establishment, according to him, was that the private sector players would bring in the tractors, while the government would provide mechanisation support services.He explained that farmers would access the tractors easily as they would get text messages alerting them when to get the equipment and the centres to visit for the tools.
GM Rice Researcher Fights Retraction Nutrition scientist Guangwen Tang, who was barred from conducting human studies after an investigation found that she did not comply with ethical regulations, goes to court to save her research. By Jef Akst | July 21, 2014 FLICKR, IRRIIn hopes of preventing the retraction of her 2012 paper in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, which led to much controversy regarding whether the researchers used proper consenting practices to enroll the 24 children participants of the study, nutrition scientist Guangwen Tang is suing the American Society for Nutrition (ASN) and her institution,Tufts University, ScienceInsiderreported last week (July 17).
The study involved testing the effects of the genetically modified (GM) rice called golden rice that aim to fight vitamin A-deficiency in school-aged Chinese children; the researchers wanted to determine how efficiently βcarotene is converted into the essential vitamin. Soon, accusations flew that the group had not gone through the
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proper consenting processes. That December, the Chinese Centre for Disease Control (CDC) fired the three China-based authors and offered financial compensation to the parents of the study participants. Tang retired from Tufts University the following September after an internal investigation that the research was not conducted ―in full compliance with IRB [institutional review board] policy or federal regulations.‖Now, the ASN wants to withdraw the paper, but Tang argued in a Massachusetts court this month (July 9) that a retraction would amount to defamation, according to Courthouse News Service. In fact, despite the authors’ wishes the society did retract the paper on its own, but the study is officially back in the literature for at least 90 days while Tang’s lawsuit is pending, Adrian Dubock, executive secretary of the Golden Rice Humanitarian Board in Switzerland, which was not involved in the study, told ScienceInsider.According to Dubock, a wealthy philanthropist has offered financial support for Tang’s legal action, which also includes a second lawsuit against the university. ―My understanding is that this person is very troubled by socially important issues that affect the disadvantaged,‖ Dubock told ScienceInsider. Tags:vitamin deficiencies, vitamin A, retraction, golden rice, GM crops, controversy and China
Banayo denies providing legal cover to rice smugglers By AMITA O. LEGASPI, GMA NewsJuly 21, 2014 4:33pm Former National Food Authority (NFA) administrator Angelito Banayo denied Monday he gave legal cover to big-time rice smugglers noting that the issuance of import permits during his time at the agency went through open and transparent bidding process.―Kung sino ang manalo sa bidding ay yun ang bibigyan ng import permit. Nagbayad ng malaki sa gobyerno ang importers para makakuha ng import permit. Bukod sa Bureau of Internal Revenue clearance, mismong ang Bureau of Customs ang nag-clear na legal yung mga importers,‖ Banayo told GMA News Online over the phone. Under the Arroyo administration, import permits were given on a firstcome-first-served basis, Banayo said. He served as NFA administrator from July 2010 up to October 30, 2012 when he resigned from his post to run for a congressional seat in Butuan City. He, however, withdrew from the race due to health reasons.Banayo said he was against the policy of allowing farmers' cooperative to participate in the importation program but added he was prevailed upon by the NFA Council chaired by Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala.―Kontra ako sa farmers as importers pero talo ako dahil gusto ni Secretary Alcala," he said.In a press statement, Banayo said NFA earned a record P4.5 billion in service fees because of the bidding, the only time it earned such in its history. ―At the same time, the supply and prices of both NFA rice at P27 and commercial rice at a band of P30 to 35 pesos per kilo was stable,‖ he said.Banayo said the BOC was very much involved in the pre-qualification of prospective bidders of import permits with I-Care giving the necessary accreditation to the companies and
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cooperatives wanting to join the NFA bidding process.He said it was in April 2011 when NFA was given final instructions to hold the public bidding, a few months away from the lean season starting in July. As per NFA records, 379 organizations participated. He said bidding was publicly conducted and lasted for 60 hours from 8 am on its first day until 12 noon of its third. ―The strict pre-qualification of bidders underwent thorough scrutiny not only from NFA officials but by the bidders themselves,‖ he said.He said documents submitted attesting to the genuineness and veracity of organizations were issued by government agencies such as but not limited to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Department of Trade and Industry, Cooperative Development Authority, National Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Bureau of Customs. Banayo said import permits had to be issued immediately prior to the lean season. ―Post qualification had to be completed the soonest. Had NFA delayed further, a situation like the present where there is not enough buffer stock to ensure availability of rice to consumers at table prices, might have occurred as early as 2012,‖ Banayo said.A newspaper report said NFA officials signed the import permits which provided the legal cover for the suspected rice smugglers. The report said the National Bureau of Investigation recommended the filing of economic sabotage and graft charges against Banayo, his deputy administrator Jose Cordero and suspected smuggler David Bangayan. Banayo said the NBI sought his side on the issue in February but he has yet to see the investigation report now. I don't know how can that be economic sabotage. Desisyon ng NFA Council yan, we had to implement that. Kung smuggling yan e trabaho yan ng Customs, hindi na trabaho ng NFA. We are not even allowed to enter the ports,‖ he said.He wondered why the BOC, which was the primary government agency tasked to prevent smuggling was not among those being recommended charged by the NBI. Banayo also said that the primary mandate of NFA was to ensure the steady supply and stable price of rice.―This, with all due respect, NFA was able to do under my watch, though imperfect any system in government there may be. Other agencies equally have their own roles to play and NFA is not the primary agency tasked to check and prevent smuggling, although it can certainly help in preventing such,‖ he said.He expressed hope the Department of Justice would throughly review the report and recommendation of NBI.―I do hope and pray that a thorough and impartial investigation by the Department of Justice based on facts and law will clear up matters the soonest,‖ he said. —NB, GMA News
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