Some 217 Guimarasnon farmers convene to receive a cash assistance from the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund. PHOTO COURTESY OF GUIMARAS PROVINCE

ILOILO City – The Department of Agriculture (DA) recently distributed financial aid to 217 Guimarasnon farmers who were selected to benefit from the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF).

Each farmer received P5,000.00 in cash from the fund.

Eighty-four of the recipients were from the municipality of Sibunag, 51 from San Lorenzo, 43 from Nueva Valencia, 28 from Buenavista, and 11 from Jordan.

DA-Guimaras Agricultural Program Coordinating Officer Ernie Rose Efondo and Provincial Administrator Emmanuel Galila led the distribution of financial grants.

The farmers were registered in the Registry System on Basic Sectors of Agriculture (RSBSA) to be able to qualify for assistance under the RCEF.

Moreover, a farmer must possess a tilled rice land measuring approximately two hectares even if he is not the owner.

For Belinda Salcedo of Jordan town, the cash assistance was a big help in buying the essential needs to support her livelihood as a farmer.

She was able to purchase equipment such as a submersible pump and knapsack sprayer, as well as fertilizer and pesticide.

Salcedo, who has been farming for 22 years, was also a recipient of various forms of assistance from the government including rice and vegetable seeds, fertilizer vouchers, and swine dispersal.     

The Rice Tariffication Law or Republic Act 11203 created the RCEF with the goal of boosting rice farmers’ competitiveness and income “amidst liberalization of the Philippine rice trade policy that lifted quantitative restrictions on rice imports and replaced them with tariffs, among others.”

RCEF also includes key programs on rice farm mechanization, rice seed development, propagation and promotion, expanded rice credit assistance, and rice extension service. (PIA Iloilo/Guimaras PIO)/PN

Published Date: March 16, 2024