SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union – The Department of Agriculture (DA) has already distributed a total of PHP306.2 million cash assistance to the 61,248 out of the 149, 449 total farmer-beneficiaries in the Ilocos Region as of May 30.
In a statement Wednesday, the DA said some 6,658 farmers in Pangasinan benefited from the financial subsidy, 25,732 in Ilocos Sur, 11,089 in Ilocos Norte and 17,769 in La Union.
Each of the farmer-beneficiaries has received PHP5,000 subsidy.
The cash aid under the Financial Subsidy for Rice Farmers (FSRF) program of the DA was distributed to the farmers through the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP).
DA regional executive director Lucrecio Alviar Jr. has mobilized all its field operations staff to assist the LBP in the distribution activity to ensure that all listed beneficiaries will be able to claim their cash assistance at a set schedule for each municipality.
The DA said the distribution started in the second week of May.
The FSRF is a cash assistance program of DA given to farmers to financially assist them during the crisis brought about by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.
In a previous interview, DA-1 regional director Erlinda Manipon said the beneficiaries are farmers who plant one hectare or less registered under the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture.
The distribution activity for the entire region is still ongoing.
Meanwhile, DA’s seed distribution in the Ilocos Region has already served a total of 3,342 individual farmers or households, 71 local government units, and 466 farmer-groups with 1,420 kilograms of seeds and 89,688 seedlings of assorted vegetables distributed worth PHP11.034 million. (PNA)
