Gov’t bank launches 7 loan programs to help farmers

In response to the worsening plight of local rice farmers brought by plummeting palay prices, state-owned Land Bank of the Philippines has introduced seven new agri-lending programs in partnership with the Department of Agriculture (DA).

LandBank president and CEO Cecilia Borromeo said the new lending facilities were the bank’s direct response to the rice crisis and would “help address the specific requirements of the various players in the agriculture sector.”

The new lending programs are: PAlay aLAY sa Magsasaka ng Lalawigan, Expanded Survival and Recovery Assistance Program for Rice Farmers, Rice Farmer Financial Assistance Program, Accessible Funds for Delivery to Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries, Sulong Saka Program, Sustainable Aquaculture Lending Program, and the Greenhouse Farming System Financing Program.

These programs, with varying funding allocations totaling billions of pesos, would assist rice-producing provinces in procuring palay produced by their local farmers as well as in acquiring farm machinery and postharvest facilities.

There will also be conditional cash transfers and credit assistance to farmers tilling one-half to two hectares of land.

As of Feb. 3, 5,822 LandBank cash cards totalling more than P29 million in cash assistance have been distributed to rice farmers in Pangasinan, Ilocos Norte, Neuva Ecija, Zamboanga del Sur, North Cotabato, Bataan and Pampanga.

Three of the new programs will also promote the production of high-value crops, mariculture and aquaculture, and will provide financial assistance to cooperatives and agrientrepreneurs who would like to shift to modern farming by adopting greenhouse farming technologies.

These are on top of the annual P10-billion rice competitiveness enhancement program under the rice tariffication law and complement DA’s own rice programs.

The huge funding for the rice industry came as local rice farmers continued to call on the government for help as palay prices have yet to recover from a major slump that started in January 2019.

In several studies conducted by state-run agencies such as the Philippine Institute for Development Studies and the Philippine Rice Research Institute, they reported that farmers have already lost billions of pesos in palay revenues following the influx of imported rice in the market. —Karl R. Ocampo INQ