BY ELLSON A. QUISMORIO
Senator Cynthia Villar said the Department of Agriculture (DA) has two programs next year designed to boost the country’s overall rice sufficiency and augment the income of farmers and other stakeholders in the agricultural sector.
Villar, chairperson of the Senate committee on agriculture and food, said these programs are the National Rice Program and the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF).
“The National Rice Program is one of the banner programs of the DA that focuses on rice farming under the Office of the Secretary. It has been there since 1986 under six Presidents,” said Villar.
She said the Department classifies it as a subsidy to accelerate the adoption of modern rice technology toward increased yield, increase income, and disaster risk reduction.
For 2021, Villar said the National Rice Program has been allocated a budget of P15.5 billion, to be spent as follows: P6.2 billion on hybrid seeds, P4.4 billion on fertilizers, P1 billion on equipment, P998.2 million on training, P745.9 million on irrigation, P658.7 million on research and development, P375 million on inbred seeds, and P858.7 million on other purposes.
On the other hand, the RCEF is a key feature of Republic Act (RA) No.11203 or the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL), which removed the quota system on rice importation and replaced it with tariffs.
The RCEF, which is an annual allocation of P10 billion, began in 2019 and would last until 2024.
The RCEF in 2021 will be spent on the following items:
- P5 billion for mechanization by PhilMech in the form of machineries and equipment for farmers’ cooperatives and associations or for LGUs of rice-producing towns with at least 100 hectares of rice farm lands;
- P3 billion in the form of quality inbred seeds given to farmers listed in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA) by PhilRice, with each receiving a maximum of four bags at 20 kilograms per bag, depending on farm size, from 0.5 to 2 hectares;
- P1-billion credit facility with minimal interest available to rice farmers and/or their cooperatives divided equally between Land Bank of the Philippines and Development Bank of the Philippines; and
- P1-billion extension support implemented by PhilMech, PhilRice, ATI, and TESDA for training rice farmers on quality inbred rice production, modern rice farming techniques, farm mechanization and technology transfer through the different accredited farm schools nationwide. (Ellson A. Quismorio)
