177,309 farmers to benefit from financial assistance

by Ian Ocampo Flora

AN ESTIMATED 177,309 farmers in Central Luzon will be able to use supplements to purchase fertilizer and other farm inputs on their farms.

This was after a distribution of financial assistance in the amount of P5,000 through the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund-Rice Farmers Financial Assistance (RCEF-RFFA) for paddy farmers of two hectares or less in the provinces of Pampanga, Tarlac and Zambales at the beginning of the year.

The beneficiaries would have to be registered with the Registry System for Basic Sector in Agriculture (RSBSA) of Department of Agriculture (DA).

The funding comes from the P7.6 billion excess tariff collection from rice imports in 2019 and 2020.

Through the Farmer’s Interventions Monitoring Card, the farmer gets the department’s assistance directly from partner remittance centers such as Universal Storefront Services Corporation and LandBank.