Manila, April 11 -- The National Food Authority (NFA) on Friday said it has reached nine days or more than half of the 15-day national rice buffer stock target.

The national rice buffer stock refers to the optimal level of rice inventory needed to be maintained for emergencies and disaster relief.

In a Viber message, NFA Administrator Larry Lacson said the agency secured around 2.2 million bags of palay (unhusked rice) from local farmers.

"Sa ngayon (To date), [the] total overall buffer stocks nationwide is good for 9.14 days or 6.861 million bags of milled rice equivalent," Lacson told the Philippine News Agency.

Overall, the NFA plans to procure 880,000 metric tons (MT) of palay this year to meet the 555,000 MT of national rice buff...