BACOLOD City – At least 20,488 small rice farmers in this province are targeted recipients of Department of Agriculture (DA) Region 6’s P5,000 cash assistance under the Financial Subsidy to Rice Farmers (FRSF) program.
According to DA-6 team leader for Negros Occidental Engineer Jose Albert Barrogo on April 14, about P102 million has been allocated for this province out of the total P3 billion budget of the agency for qualified farmers in the country.
“This is a one-time subsidy to allay the possible adverse effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis among the small rice farmers,” he said.
Farmers in Negros Occidental with
farming areas of one hectare and below are qualified to receive DA’s financial
assistance.
DA-6 will identify the recipients from the list of 55,635 rice farmers in this
province.
“We are now in the process of finalizing the list which will be submitted to the DA Central Office on April 20,” Barrogo said.
According to Barrogo, DA secretary William Dar has scheduled the start of cash aid distribution in the last week of April.
“If ever there will be more than the target 20,488 recipients, we will submit a query to the Central Office about the farmers not covered by the fund,” Barrogo said.
He added the DA is discussing with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on how to address concerns like the possible duplication of recipients.
The DSWD has been tasked to implement the Emergency Subsidy Program for low-income households who will receive P5,000 to P8,000 cash aid in the months of April and May.
Barrogo said there is no instruction to exclude from DWSD’s list of potential beneficiaries the small rice farmers, who are also beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program.(With a report from PNA/PN)
