Thousands of farmers will benefit from the PHP1.4 billion worth of farm and fishery inputs, farm machinery, and livelihood projects, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said on Tuesday.
Agriculture Secretary William Dar led the turnover of interventions to farmers, fishers and indigenous peoples in Quezon province on November 23, based on the agency’s social media account.
Dar said the assistance will help the farmers recover from the adverse impacts of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic and losses caused by strong typhoons that successively hit their agriculture areas.
The awarding of agriculture inputs and materials also coincided with the Cash and Food Subsidy for Marginal Farmers and Fisherfolk (CFSMFF) program in Tayabas City, with an allotment of PHP177 million for Quezon province.
The amount awarded in Tayabas City is part of the PHP4.5-billion budget of the CFSMFF program under the Bayanihan to Recover As One Act or Bayanihan 2.
The DA through the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech) also distributed PHP304 million worth of farm machinery to rice farmers’ cooperatives and associations (FCAs), which is part of the annual PHP10-billion Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF).
“The Province of Quezon and the whole region of Calabaron are very important to our agricultural economy. The region continues to showcase agri-industrialization in many ways, but of course you will need to have continuous production, and a value-adding agri-business approach will be critical,” Dar said during awarding ceremony.
The RCEF will supply the qualified FCAs with farm machineries such as four-wheel tractors, precision seeders, combine harvesters, and mechanical dryers to increase yield and reduce postharvest losses, DA said.
In a DA post, it said the CFSMFF program aims to benefit a total of 890,794 marginal farmers — planting corn, coconut, and sugarcane — fisherfolk, and indigenous peoples (IPs), who will each receive PHP3,000 cash and PHP2,000 food assistance. (PNA)
