A new batch of Pampanga farmers were the beneficiaries of financial aid via the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund-Rice Farmers Financial Assistance (RCEF-RFFA) program, according to the Department of Agriculture.
Some 3,805 farmers from various towns received P5,000 each during a distribution activity held at the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center in San Fernando City.
Under the special provisions of the RCEF, the RFFA program provides unconditional cash aid to each rice farmer registered under the Registry Systems for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA) and tills two hectares of land or less.
The fund comes from the rice tariffs collected annually in excess of the P10 billion allocated for the RCEF.
According to Crispulo Bautista, director of DA in Central Luzon, the RFFA aims to provide monetary assistance as compensation for the projected reduction or loss of farm income arising from the tariffication of the quantitative import restrictions on rice.
“The release of cash assistance also provides relief to rice farmers given the recent natural calamities and will also aid them in securing farm inputs, such as fertilizer,” Bautista said in a Philippine News Agency report.
He said aside from cash assistance, the DA-3 is continuously providing various interventions to the palay farmers, such as hybrid seeds, certified palay seeds, fertilizer discount vouchers, and technical assistance.
