DA-7 releases P5k doleout to farmers

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Created on Monday, 11 May 2020

Rice farmers in Bohol received on Friday, May 8 the P5,000 financial assistance from the Department of Agriculture (DA) thru the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) under the Financial Subsidy for Rice Farmers (RSRF) program.

The cash subsidy is part of the DA’s initiatives to assist small rice farmers, who plant 1 hectare or less, located in 24 provinces not covered under the Rice Farmers Financial Assistance (RFFA) program.

The P3-B FSRF fund is earmarked under the 2020 General Appropriations Act.

The first group to receive the cash assistance were from Maribojoc, part of the total 62,142 target-beneficiaries from Bohol and Negros Oriental.

DA-7 Regional Executive Director Atty. Salvador Diputado said that of the total number of beneficiaries, 1,497 farmers have already received the first round of cash assistance prior to COVID pandemic.

"The direct cash transfer is DA's response to the affected rice farmers to enable them to buy either farm inputs or food for their families as the country battles the health scare,” Diputado said.

To ensure an orderly and efficient release of funds, RED Diputado and LBP Bohol chief Dexter Ruiz met with the municipal agriculturists (MAOs) of the different towns of Bohol to brief them of the mechanics for distribution, taking into consideration the requirements of face masks and physical distancing, so they can relay them to the farmers.

At present, Bohol is placed under general community quarantine (GCQ), just like Siquijor and Negros Oriental while Cebu is under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).

During the forum, Diputado echoed the challenge of Agriculture Secretary William Dar to increase rice production by at least 10% and told them that “if you can increase yield this cropping season by at least 10%, then we will give more agri incentives, for you and your LGU.”

One such measure, Diputado explained, is to convince the FSRF beneficiaries to use the 5k grant to buy fertilizer for the counter-parting scheme and other farm use implements.
He also challenged the MAOs to hit their target yield of 10% increase because “a decrease or same harvest would only mean that they were not really exerting their best efforts.”

Land Bank has a total of 5 branches in the province of Bohol, 2 in Tagbilaran City, and also in Tubigon, Talibon and Jagna.
Constant monitoring is maintained by DA-7 and LBP to ensure that fund releases will be completed within the allotted time.