ILOILO CITY -- Obtaining financial support from the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC) of the Department of Agriculture (DA) was made easier under the Production Loan Easy Access (PLEA) program.
DA Regional Executive Director Remelyn Recoter on Monday said more than PHP100-million fund has been made available to farmers in Western Visayas.
The regional director said the provision of funds is part of the effort of the national government through the DA to extend easy financing access to farmers.
ACPC used to have the Landbank of the Philippines (LBP) as its conduit. However, LBP requires plenty of documents, thus DA looked for a qualified association.
An initial PHP1.8 million was released through the Kooperatiba Naton Multi-purpose Cooperative in Tigbauan, Iloilo for 15 onion growers of Oton during the February 23 visit of Secretary Emmanuel Piñol. A PHP10-million fund has been committed to the town.
Oton is a new area according to Recoter and the target is to increase their coverage to 36 hectares this year. To date, 31.5 hectares in Barangays Buray, Sta. Rita, Trapiche, Tagbak Sur, Turog-turog, Sambaludan, Batuan Ilawod, Galang and Salngan are planted with onions.
Piñol also pledged PHP20 million for Capiz and Aklan farmers.
A separate fund of PHP12 million is committed to onion and garlic farmers in Tigabaun.
Apart from commitment funds, ACPC already released to the Rural Bank of Miagao an initial PHP20 million of the PHP50 million fund that was promised by the secretary for onion and garlic growers of southern Iloilo way back in November 2017.
Piñol also released PHP15 million to Pandan Multipurpose Cooperative, PHP5 million to Egaña Parish Credit Cooperative and PHP10 million to the Antique Provincial Government Credit Cooperative, all in Antique province in 2017.
Recoter said that the fund is not only for garlic and onion growers but can also be availed by farmers planting other crops.
Garlic and onion farmers can avail of PHP150,000 per hectare while rice farmers can obtain a loan of PHP30,000 to PHP50,000 per hectare, with an interest rate of 6 percent per annum.
As of date, more than 300 farmers from Tigbauan, Igbaras, Tubungan, Oton and Miagao are planting onion and garlic, covering about 200 hectares.
At present, the country sources 90 percent of garlic and 50 percent of onion requirements abroad. (PNA)
