PH rice farmers to receive cash subsidy from DA

Agriculture Secretary William Dar says 600,000 rice farmers tilling rice fields one hectare and below will each get a P5,000 cash subsidy. | DA photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines—Rice farmers will receive P5,000 cash subsidy from the Department of Agriculture (DA) to help augment their needs amid the enhanced community quarantine due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

“Our rice farmers will receive it as a direct cash transfer that they can use to buy either farm inputs, food for their families or anything they need,” said Agriculture Secretary William Dar.

The P5,000-cash subsidy, dubbed as the Financial Subsidy to Rice Farmers (FSRF), is part of the DA’s initiatives to assist small rice farmers, who plant one hectare or less, located in 24 provinces not covered under the Rice Farmers Financial Assistance (RFFA) program.

The P3-B FSRF fund is earmarked under the 2020 General Appropriations Act.

“The FSRF is another intervention to further support our farmers who are experiencing the effects of the quarantine measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Dar said.

The DA, through the Land Bank of the Philippines, will start distributing the P5,000 FSRF cash subsidy to 600,000 farmers this week. 

An earlier batch of 600,000 farmers, tilling up to two hectares, continue to receive P5,000 each under the RFFA.

“We vow to continue helping our small rice farmers, by implementing not only the FSRF and RFFA, but also other major programs such as the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF), the SURE Aid loan assistance program, and continuous palay-buying through the National Food Authority — to boost farmers’ productivity and incomes,” Dar said. /bmjo