Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar awarded to some 500 farmers of Mangatarem, Pangasinan cash assistance under the Rice Farmers Financial Assistance Program (RFFAP).

Using the cash cards released by the Land Bank of the Philippines, farmers can easily withdraw P5,000 cash assistance, which they can use for
livelihood projects.

“Ito po ay tulong pinansyal, hindi pautang kaya di babayaran,” Dar explained stressing that the unconditonal cash transfer is available to farmers tilling 0.5 – 2 hectares farmland.

In Pangasinan, a total of 87,000 rice farmers will receive LandBank cashcards, equivalent to P435 million.

Dar announced that the Department of Agriculture will be releasing a total of P3 billion to the first 33 rice-producing provinces and qualified farmers selected based on a comparative price analysis that considered the average marketable surplus and profit gains/losses in those provinces.

RFFAP forms part of the immediate interventions set up to cushion rice farmers during the transition phase of the RTL or R.A. 11203 implementation. The law provides for financial assistance for rice farmers to be sourced from the tariff collection of the P10-billion Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF).

In his message, Dar explained that RCEF aims to make Filipino rice farmers competitive by providing them mechanized facilities, certified rice seeds, credit, and training.

Through RCEF, the Secretary is positive that cost of production of local rice will be deduced by P6 from its P12 per kilo level, enabling rice growers to compete with Vietnam, which currently produces at P6/kilo. ### (Adora D. Rodriguez, DA-AFID)