THE Department of Agriculture (DA) in Western Visayas has an approved allocation of about P474 million for rice farmers in the region including Negros Occidental through the financial subsidy for rice farmers (FSRF).
About 94,953 rice growers from the provinces of Aklan, Antique, Capiz and Negros Occidental will be receiving P5,000 in one-time cash aid from the agency.
Regional Technical Director for Operations and Extension Rene Famoso, in a statement, said the cash grant intends to support farmers who are most affected by the effects of the Rice Tariffication Law.
Farmers registered in the updated Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA) and who are tilling one hectare and below rice farm can avail of the cash subsidy to buy farm inputs and other necessities.
“As of now, we have available funding in the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) for 10,601 rice farmers of Aklan and 939 farmers of Capiz,” he added.
Aklan and Capiz have FSRF allocation for 19,253 and 31,347 farmers, respectively.
For Negros Occidental alone, the DA has an allocation of about P102 million for the province which forms part of the P3 billion fund allocated for recipient-rice farmers in the country.
Given such allocation, some 20,488 small rice farmers in the province are targeted to avail the cash assistance.
Engineer Jose Albert Barrogo, DA’s team leader for Negros Occidental, earlier told SunStar Bacolod that there are about 2,000 additional rice farmers listed by local government units (LGUs) and are still up for submission to DA-Western Visayas.
Thus, the province will have about 21,344 farmer-recipients, which are more than the initial target of 20,488.
Though still subject to verification by the regional line agency, Barrogo said there’s a huge chance that all of them will be qualified and given financial assistance.
“The fund for the excess number of recipients in Negros Occidental will be sourced from other provinces which have not fully utilized their allocation,” he added.
The P5,000 subsidy is also a sort of social amelioration intended to allay possible adverse effects of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) crisis among small rice farmers.