THE Department of Agriculture (DA) has offered the National Food Authority (NFA) the use of an 18-wheeler track-trailer to enhance the play procurement in the provinces.

DA Regional Director Ran Don Cedeno made the offer to NFA Regional Director Rolando Rufo when they met Friday, October 30, in Dipolog City, the capital of Zamboanga del Norte province.

The NFA continues to buy clean and dry palay from farmers in the provinces at P19 per kilogram.

“We are offering our 18-wheeler trailer to increase capacity and mobility of NFA in procuring palay from farmers. With that, we also discussed plans on how NFA will recommend to DA the possible sites and identify cooperators in the province, so that DA may complement in putting up a mechanical dryer under our Farm Mechanization Program,” Cedeño said.

Rufo said the solar dryers in all NFA compounds in the region are to be utilized for free by farmers.

“We offer our farmers all our NFA-owned solar and mechanical drying facilities for free, but it is on a first-come, first-served basis,” Rufo said.

Cedeño and Rufo also discussed during Friday’s meeting the possibility of DA regional office to support the NFA in establishing a storage facility where there is no NFA warehouse like in the municipality of Sindangan, Zamboanga del Norte.

Zamboanga del Norte Provincial Administrator Beverly Navarro and DA Regional Operations Chief Reynaldo Campomanes joined the meeting of Cedeño and Rufo to support the plans in enhancing NFA's palay procurement services in the provinces. (SunStar Zamboanga)