MANILA The Department of Agriculture said it has secured P12 billion credit line from state-owned Land Bank of the Philippines to support rice price stabilization and to boost rice production and other food crops.
Of the amount, P5 billion will go to farmers in the country’s palay-growing areas, said Undersecretary Bernie Fondevilla, director of the National Agriculture and Fisheries Council.
Ago Apilado, LandBank vice president for corporate affairs, said the P5 billion allocation will be used to procure fertilizers and palay seeds and fund other farming-related aspects for rice planting.
Fondevilla said the P12 billion credit facility is on top of other measures proposed by Malacañang and the DA to stabilize rice prices, which include allowing the private sector to engage in rice imports, lowering tariffs on imports, and making the National Food Authority engage in the direct or supervised selling not only of government-subsidized rice but of medium-priced varieties as well.
The rest of the fund, according to Fondevilla, will go to livestock production (P2.54 billion), high-value commercial crops (P2 billion), industrial crops like rubber and oil palms (P1.5 billion), the fisheries sector (P700 million), and corn production (P300 million).
Fondevilla said LandBank president and CEO Gilda Pico has told the DA the institution is ready to extend more financial support if there is a big demand for credit assistance from qualified farmers’ organizations such as cooperatives and from the small and medium enterprises.
Last year, LandBank released P2.92 billion to help boost palay harvests and P210 million for corn production, benefiting more than 47,000 farmers.
According to Pico, LandBank lent P26.8 billion to the agriculture sector last year.
Fondevilla said the bank has also allocated P120 million for the DA’s hybrid rice program.