The Department of Agriculture (DA) has extended more than P740 million (M) in loan under the credit component of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) in line with the implementation of the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL).
Under the credit component of RCEF, the Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) has released P459.63 million (M) to 2,469 individual farmers and 19 cooperatives, while the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) has released P283M of the P500M working capital to the Magsasakang Isabela Agricultural Cooperative to use as capital to buy the palay of their 5,000 farmer-members.
This is on top of the P2.340 billion (B) funds provided by the Agricultural Credit Policy Council of DA under the Expanded Survival and Recovery Loan Assistance for Rice Farmers Program (SURE-Aid).
For the Rice Farmers Financial Assistance Program (RFFAP), another P1.4B in cash assistance was extended to 279,666 farmers from the targeted 597,404 farmer-beneficiaries from 33 provinces.
RFFAP, implemented with LandBank and DBP, provides P5,000 cash assistance to rice farmers tilling 0.5 to two hectares of farmland.
With just ten days before the one-year anniversary of the RTL celebration, Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar reported accomplishments under the national initiative designed to help modernize rice farming in the Philippines. Aside from credit, the program has provided access to high-quality seeds and training.
Under the seeds component, a total of 1,250,468 bags (20kilogram/bag) of certified seeds have been distributed. More than 490,000 farmers from 709 provinces have received rice seeds from the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), translating to 619,079 hectares planted with high-quality seeds.
“We are now looking at increasing the maximum allowable number of bags per farmer, from four to six bags, proportionate to their farm size,” Dar announced.
Under the extension component, the Department through the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) has completed seven batches of training for specialists, 76 batches of training for trainers, and 16 batches of training for farmers.
“For mechanization, despite the late release of funds, DA was able to validate 944 farmer cooperatives and associations or FCAs,” Dar explained.
To date, these FCAs are being verified as potential recipients of farm machineries and other equipment. ### (Adora D. Rodriguez, DA-AFID)
