Agriculture Secretary William Dar said he has high hopes that the Philippines agriculture sector will still record positive growth this year, but his words are not enough to convince farmers that they are on their way to recovery.
Farm workers thresh rice during a harvest, in the barangay of Pala
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But thanks to Rice Tariffication Law’s (RTL) Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF), PhilMech is now in the process of distributing P2 billion worth of farm machineries to farmer cooperatives and associations (FCAs) across the country.
The RTL or Republic Act 11203 allocates P5 billion to PHilMech annually for the distribution of various farm machines at no cost to qualified FCAs. This should be inclusive of the training of the farmer-beneficiaries on how to manage and maintain their machines.
The P5 billion will be sourced from the tariffs on rice imports deposited to RCEF, which will be automatically injected with P10-billion funding from 2019 to 2024.
Published December 21, 2020, 5:00 AM
Agriculture Secretary William Dar admitted that farmers are not a priority in the government-led distribution of COVID-19 vaccine, but vowed to look for vaccines for the agriculture sector where players are also considered frontliners.
“The priority right now are frontliners [but] mostly medical, soldiers, police, and senior citizens,” Dar said when asked in a virtual briefing if farmers will also receive the vaccine once the government finally sealed a deal with providers.
Farm workers thresh rice during a harvest, in the barangay of Palattao, in Naguilian, Isabela province, the Philippines. Photographer: Nana Buxani/Bloomberg file photo
Dar assured that the Department of Agriculture (DA) will continuously coordinate with the private sector, mentioning Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion, so that farmers will also be given priority in future mass COVID-19 vacc