GENERAL SANTOS CITY – The National Food Authority (NFA) sets a goal of buying some 99,000 bags of corn worth P65 million from the General Santos City (GenSan) and Sarangani areas until year-end, an agency official said.

Tony dela Cruz, NFA regional director for Southern Mindanao, said the procurement program for corn grain now covers two classifications – Class A at P13 per kilogram and Class B at P12 per kilogram.

“The variation in the corn buying is meant to accommodate the request of farmers to increase NFA’s buying price back to P13 per kilogram but for Class A corn,” Dela Cruz said in an interview.

According to Dela Cruz, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap acceded to the request of farmer leaders in a recent meeting last week in Manila to raise again NFA’s buying price for corn.

The farmers, in some instances during the meeting, figured in an altercation, urged Yap to buy corn again in its previous price at P13 a kilogram from NFA’s previous buying price of P12 per kilo.

Malou Misa, NFA statistician for Sarangani and GenSan, said private traders are buying corn at P7 a kilogram, way below the price of the agency’s support price leading farmers in droves to sell their corn to NFA.

But she said that NFA limits buying of corn from individual farmers up to three hectares only or 210 bags at 70 bags per hectare yield, while coop members may sell up to seven hectares or 4,900 bags.

Jun Hectin, NFA provincial operations officer, said the agency has bought a total of 20,933 bags since July – broken down as 8,787 bags of Class A corn and 12,146 bags for Class B corn, mostly yellow corn.

He explained that Class A corn must have 97 percent purity, while below 94 percent is classified as Class B.

The P13 support price includes incentives like 20 centavos for drying, another 20 for delivery and 30 centavos for farmers who are members of a cooperative or known as the cooperative development incentive fund (CDIF).

Farmers deliver their corn and palay at NFA buying stations at the provincial office here in the city and mobile procurement teams going around corn areas like the towns of Malungon, Alabel, Malapatan, Maasim Kiamba and Maitum in Sarangani.