The Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) on Wednesday sought to enlist an initial 50,000 farmers under the Agri Puhunan at Pantawid (APP) loan program crafted to help rice farmers get by in the ongoing dry cropping season.
The dry cropping season for rice farmers lasts from September to February. The wet cropping season begins in April until August.
Roberto Antonio, DBP board director, told reporters the program aims to stop the cycle of high interest loan rates that burden rice farmers.
Antonio said the lending program launched only last week in partnership with the Department of Agriculture (DA) has already secured an initial P3 billion in a combination of low-interest loans and subsistence allowance for farmers.
The DBP explained the loan program involves the distribution of intervention monitoring cards (IMCs) for enrolled beneficiaries for the purchase of seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and ameliorants as well as pay for services through merchants accredited by state-run firm Planters Products Inc. (PPI).
Rice farmers tilling up to a maximum of two hectares and registered under the DA’s Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture can avail of the loan program.
The DBP said a beneficiary with a hectare planted to rice will receive P58,000 to cover production, land preparation and hauling plus a subsistence allowance of P32,000 given in tranches of P8,000 for four months.
“Because of this, we lift the burden of high interest loans. What we only want in exchange is that they sell five tons of their production to the National Food Authority at a price that will not be lower than P21 per kilo,” Antonio said.
Antonio said the loans charge interest of only 2 percent equivalent to P500 to P600 per beneficiary.
Antonio gave assurance that security measures are in place against possible abuse.
Antonio said the IMCs can only be used by registered beneficiaries that require facial recognition and the personal appearance of farmers when purchasing farm inputs.
He also said crops tended by beneficiaries of the loan program are covered by crop insurance.
The DBP said the PPI monitors in real time the purchases of beneficiaries as well as the deployment of farm inputs from accredited merchants. Field personnels will also visit farmers to make sure the outputs are being used as intended.
Antonio said the loan program only caters to rice farmers although this could extend to other food crops if found beneficial and sustainable.
The loan program has 5,000 enrolled beneficiaries in Guimba, Nueva Ecija with plans to include rice farmers in north Luzon and in ready areas in Visayas and Mindanao.
“The money for this program will circulate during the planting season. This will be sustainable as long as farmers will comply with the guidelines of the program,” Antonio said.
“Food security wise, we want to tap as many as one million farmers equal to five million tons of palay at each harvest. That will be a big help for our rice requirement,” Antonio said.
