Over 1,500 farmers in Tarlac province were given cash assistance under the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund-Rice Farmers Financial Assistance (RCEF-RFFA) program of the Department of Agriculture (DA), officials said.
According to Regional Rice Banner Program focal person Lowell Rebillaco, a total of 1,533 rice farmers in La Paz town received cash aid as compensation for the income loss of rice farmers due to the drop in the selling price of palay and the increasing cost of fertilizer and other farm inputs.
Under the special provisions of the RCEF, the RFFA program provides rice farmers who are registered under the Registry Systems for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA), and tilling two hectares and below of land, unconditional cash assistance of P5,000.
The program sources its funds from the rice tariffs collected annually in excess of the P10 billion allocated for the RCEF.
“Patuloy ang DA, sa suporta ng provincial government of Tarlac through Office of the Provincial Agriculture, Development Bank of the Philippines and Universal Storefront Services Corporation (USSC) sa ating mga magsasaka upang mapataas ang kanilang ani at kita sa pagpapalay,” Rebillaco said in a social media post.
A total of 9,925 farmers in Tarlac have so far benefited from the program since the start of the distribution of RCEF-RFFA cash assistance in the province last November.
Those who have benefited from the program were rice farmers from the towns of Anao, San Clemente, Sta. Ignacia, Paniqui, Camiling, Moncada, Mayantoc, Pura and Victoria.
