THE Department of Agriculture (DA) intends to use the surplus on the tariff collected from imported rice to support crop diversification programs for next year.
DA undersecretary for operations Ariel Cayana reported that the total allotted amount for the Rice Competitive Enhancement Program (RCEP) under the Rice Tariffication Law for this year exceeded by roughly P5 billion.
“Ang maganda naman lumagpas na po tayo. More than 10 billion na po ang nakolekta, close to almost P15 billion. So parang may 5 billion na [excess] (What is good is that we have surpassed the P10 billion allocation. We have collected close to P15 billion. So we have exceeded P5 billion),” Cayana said at the sidelines of the press conference during the launch of Sulong Pilipinas Agribusiness Summit on Tuesday, December 17.
The agency has started implementing some of the projects under the P10-billion allocation of the RCEP such as provision of seeds to farmers and granting them loans.
Cayana added they will be studying other possible projects such as crop diversification that can be funded with the excess money.
“‘Yun pung natitira po na excess or sumobra dun can be used for the [crop] diversification (The excess amount can be used for crop diversification). It can be integrated farming or crop rotation,” he said.
During the press conference, DA undersecretary for high-value crops and rural credit Evelyn Laviña stressed that crop diversification is necessary for the sustainability of the farmers’ livelihood.
“In crop diversification, it doesn’t mean na may palay ka, dun ka lang so pwede, after the rice, pwede tayong magtanim ng iba, kunyari mung bean (It does not mean that they will only have to plant rice but maybe, after the harvest, they can plant other crops like mung bean,” she said.
She urged farmers to plant high-value crops as well as crops that can generate income after a duration of as short as 24 to 30 days to eight months to one year such as coffee and cacao.
“Crop diversification is sort of a strategy para araw- araw may pagkain sa hapagkainan (so that everyday, they will have food on their table,” she said.
Calayan said the agency is yet to propose programs on crop diversification to the House of Representatives for approval. If approved, he said it will be processed and implemented next year.