The Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC) chaired by the Department of Agriculture is making available P750 million for farmers and fisherfolk struggling to deal with the impact of the El Nino weather disruptions.
The fund is available under the DA’s Survival and Recovery loan program.
Cristina Lopez, ACPC deputy executive director, said individual farmers and fisherfolk can avail of loans of up to P25,000 with zero interest payable in three years.
“For (El Niño) or any calamity for that matter, what we have for farmers affected by calamities is that they have a ready alternative livelihood. However, this must also be agriculture based as our support is for food production,” Lopez told reporters on Monday.
According to Lopez, farmers and fisher folk borrowers will need to submit their loan applications via the lending conduits, which are banks and cooperatives.
Lopez also said only those registered with the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture may tap the financing program.
“The processing of loans is fast as long as they have all the required documents as verified by the lending conduits. We see an average of 5 to 10 working days for processing. If longer than that, it means problems on the side of loan applicant who may be lacking documents,” Lopez said.
