So! This positive news is an answer to the negative views of contrarian citizen champions. ANN says, “Amidst opposing opinions in the past, the enactment of the (RTL) has proven to be one of the government’s best game plans to increase local production and yield, and ensure affordable and stable supply of rice.” The RTL gave rise to the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) from whose huge collections the Department of Agriculture (DA) is tapping for much-needed assistances to farmers.
On Saturday, 23 October, Secretary of Agriculture William Dar handed out P5,000 unconditional cash grant each to farmers in Panabo, Davao del Norte – in Mindanao. This cash gift is the second in a series of nationwide cash distributions, the first one being held on Thursday, 21 October in Sariaya, Quezon – in Luzon.
Starting this month, more than 1.5 million Filipino rice farmers cultivating 2 ha or less will share from the P7.61 billion excess tariff collected from rice imports via the RTL. (For credit, P2.5 billion have been lent to 15,738 farmers and 115 farmers’ cooperatives via the DBP and LandBank.)
Mr Dar told farmers (my translation from Tagalog), “Many condemned the RTL for the tariff on imported rice. On that, the government is earning and which is being distributed among you.”
According to Mr Dar, based on the monitoring of PhilRice including 6,154 RCEF participants in the dry-season rice cropping from 2019 to 2020, several milestones have been achieved as of 30 September 2021:
(1) Lower seed requirement – With quality inbred rice seeds from the DA, farmers used 64 kg/ha, which is 33% lower than 96 kg/ha used in 2019.
(2) Higher harvest– The average palay harvest increasedby 15% metric tons (MT) or 0.56 MT/ha, to 4.22 MT/ha from 3.6 MT/ha in 2018 before the RCEF.
(3) Higher gross income – With an average yield increaseof 560 kg/ha, farmers earned an additionalgross of at least P10,000/ha, at P19/kg dry palay.
Given those record RCEF-linkable accomplishments, ANN says in the coming 6 cropping seasons or 3 years, the DA hopes to “continue to achieve a 1.4-MT/ha increase in average rice yield, reduction of palay production cost by P3/kg to P9/kg from current P12/kg, reduction by 3-5% in post-production losses, and increase by an overall 30% in farmers’ income.”
Given that, Mr Dar says, “The current accomplishments of RTL and RCEF only (show) that we are on the right track in achieving our targets by the end of program implementation in 2025.”
In so many words, freely translated from the original Tagalog, Mr Dar said, “All Philippines is optimistic, despite the pandemic. Our agriculture will rise, and because of their industry and efficiency, our farmers are the true heroes in the villages.”@517
[1]https://www.da.gov.ph/da-chief-highlights-accomplishment-of-rtl-during-2nd-leg-of-financial-aid-distribution/?fbclid=IwAR0z-rKXWCF0GT8enDd_J-vrXih_SNA1JL4fvUh_04bniHPKgzcy1qxHIh4
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