A farmer transplant rice seedlings at a rice field in Pulilan, Bulacan on Monday, February 26, 2024.  INQUIRER PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

The government is targeting to assist some 50,000 rice farmers this dry cropping season under a new program that offers low-cost credit and market support, the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) said.

DBP board director Roberto Antonio said they plan to implement the Agri-Puhunan at Pantawid (APP) in parts of Luzon, and eventually in the Visayas and Mindanao, following its launch in Guimba town in Nueva Ecija province.

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“The instruction to us is to look into implementing the program in another area in Nueva Ecija,” Antonio said in a briefing in Quezon City (translated from Filipino). “We will be going up to CAR (Cordillera Administrative Region), Pangasinan and Isabela.”

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On his 67th birthday last week, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. unveiled the APP, a program of the DBP in partnership with the Department of Agriculture (DA).

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Some 5,000 rice farmers in Guimba are part of the APP program, with Antonio saying that studies are underway to expand its coverage to include farmers who cultivate other crops.

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The target is to enlist 1 million farmers who will produce 5 tons each under the initiative.

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“This is huge help in attaining our rice requirement,” he added. “We are addressing both the standing order of our President, which is [to work toward] food security and sustainability.”

Through the APP loan program, rice farmers will receive intervention monitoring cards that can be used to purchase seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and ameliorants, and pay for services of accredited merchants of Planters Products Inc.

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The DA and the DBP initially allocated P3 billion for the program, which aims to provide a combination of low-interest loans and subsistence allowances to qualified beneficiaries.

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Rice farmers tilling at least one hectare of farmland and who are registered under the DA’s Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture are eligible.

Each farmer will receive P58,000, including a subsistence allowance of P32,000 (or P8,000 a month), which will be released in tranches within four months. They will also receive a subsidy of P14,500 per hectare for inputs, services and insurance.

Antonio said the loan facility aims to break the cycle of rice farmers resorting to loans that carry high interest rates. As such, the program aims to uplift their living conditions.

“Because of this, we are lifting the burden of paying high interest rates. In exchange, we want them (rice farmers) to sell five tons of their produce to the NFA (National Food Authority) at P21 per kilogram,” he said.

In a statement earlier, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the program would guarantee a “decent” higher income for rice farmers and reduce the volume of rice importation.

Antonio explained that the APP has a “cash capture mechanism” since the allotted money for the loan program will circulate during the planting season.

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In the Philippinesinplay, rice has two planting seasons: dry cropping season (September to February) and wet cropping season (April to August). INQ

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