BACOLOD City – Part of the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) interventions to local producers weighed down by the effects of the coronavirus pandemic is the Cash and Food Subsidy Program that caters to 35,544 farmers and fisherfolk in Negros Occidental.
Agriculture secretary William Dar rolled-out the initial distribution to 115 recipients on Dec. 8 at the Panaad Park.
Included in the Stimulus Package for Agriculture under the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act, the program has apportioned P177.72 million for Negros Occidental targeting 958 corn farmers, 13,027 sugarcane farmers, 7,180 coconut farmers, and 14,379 fisherfolk.
DA extended earlier this year P5,000 cash aids to rice growers through the Rice Farmers Financial Assistance, and the Financial Subsidy for Rice Farmers.
The move intends to ease the plight of farmers confronted by the two-year transition or adjustment period of the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL), an act liberalizing the importation of rice to ensure national rice sufficiency.
“This time we can already subsidize our non-rice farmers. With P4.5 billion, we will serve around 890,000 farmers,” said Dar.
Farmers and fishers listed in the Registry System for the Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA) and those who have not received financial assistance from the Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Agrarian Reform, and Department of Labor and Employment are qualified for the granting of P5,000 worth of subsidy to include P3,000 cash, P1,000 worth of rice, and P1,000 dressed chicken and eggs.
The program is also a component of the social amelioration support to the farming and fishing communities, along with the productivity enhancement support and the income-generating grant priorities under the DA’s Plant, Plant, Plant Program (Agri 4Ps).
“We cannot fight the pandemic if we do not have sufficient food, and that is the reason why we are providing support to the farmers and fisherfolk. The sector continues to move forward, and seeks divine providence to give us resiliency to weather the challenges besetting the country and much more the agriculture sector,” said Dar.
Based on the targets of the DA Corn Program, Sugar Regulatory Administration, Philippine Coconut Authority, and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources as the lead implementing agencies, 11,435 farmers and fishers in Region 6 are poised to receive direct cash and food assistance.
Using the e-voucher system, farmer-recipients can claim their P3,000 cash by presenting their government-issued identification (ID) cards to accredited payout centers. In Negros Occidental, the project recipients shall proceed to MLhuiller Financial Service Centers and show the reference codes sent via text message by their concerned agencies. (DA-6/PN)
