MANILA – The Department of Agriculture (DA) is urging Congress to restore and expand the grain-buying powers of the National Food Authority (NFA) to strengthen food security by allowing the agency to directly purchase corn and rice from farmers and cooperatives.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr. said the proposal is part of the amendments the DA is supporting under the new RICE Act bill filed by House Speaker Martin Romualdez, which seeks to revise the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL).

The bill would reauthorize the NFA to buy not only palay but also milled rice and corn, a crop that Laurel underscored as critical for both human consumption and animal feed.

“Corn is not just a rice substitute in the Visayas and Mindanao, it is the backbone of the country’s feed production for our poultry and livestock sectors,” Laurel said. “These sectors are central to the vision of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of a food-secure Philippines.”

Yellow corn accounts for 46 percent of livestock feed and 62 percent of poultry feed, according to National Corn Program data. However, only 2.5 million hectares nationwide are planted to corn, supporting around 1.1 million farmers.

Corn’s gross value added in 2024 reached ₱116.29 billion, making it the second most valuable crop after rice and surpassing coconut and sugar. By comparison, livestock and poultry were valued at ₱319.48 billion and ₱142.06 billion, respectively.

Undersecretary for Operations and Agri-Fisheries Mechanization Roger Navarro said NFA procurement of palay—and potentially corn—is vital during peak harvests to stabilize farmgate prices and protect farmers.

Laurel also stressed that enabling the NFA to buy rice processed through government-funded Rice Processing Systems (RPS) will ensure that the facilities deliver benefits directly to farmer cooperatives. “We must make these multi-million-peso facilities work for the farmers they were meant to serve,” he said.