THE move to increase next year’s budget of the Department of Agriculture (DA) to directly provide farm and fishery loans is seen to benefit farmers and fisherfolk in Negros Island Region (NIR).
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol, in his Facebook post, said the DA is seeking a P200-billion budget in 2018, about four times of its P50.6 billion current budget.
Piñol said portion of the funds will be allocated to create a bank that will allow the agency to directly grant loans to local farmers and fishermen.
“There is a need for government to establish farmers and fisherman’s credit and lending aid,” the DA chief said, adding that under the initiative, an ordinary farmer can avail of production loan by just providing his validated identification card.
In Negros, DA-NIR Regional Director Joyce Wendam said additional budget for capitalization is a pressing need of most farmers in the region.
Wendam, who spoke at the Regional Management Committee Meeting at the Bacolod Pavillon Hotel yesterday, said lack of capitalization has been one of the major concerns raised by farmers during consultations.
“They really need capitalization support to finance their respective production, including expenses for farm inputs like seeds and fertilizers,” she said, adding that some incur debts with private money lenders with higher interest rates thus, their income becomes low.
Wendam stressed that the provision of affordable and accessible credit is a must to help local farmers.
Equipping farmers to improve their individual production areas will significantly contribute to the agency’s goal to develop the country’s agricultural productivity, she said.
Currently, DA is already implementing the Survival and Recovery (Sure) Loan Program, launched in Cotabato early this year, which has initially benefited typhoon-affected farmers in Caraga Region.
The loan program will provide P10,000 grant and P20,000 loan for farmers in calamity-affected areas.
For NIR, the DA is now on the process of identifying recipients by requesting local government units (LGUs) to submit an updated list of farmers.
“The government has initially allocated P1 billion for the Sure Loan Program which will eventually cover and benefit farmers in the region,” Wendam said.
