March 28, 2024

The Department of Agriculture said the country’s agri-fishery sector – buoyed by the Duterte administration’s Plant, Plant, Plant program – continues to perform well amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We continue to elevate our game to sustainably feed the country’s growing population under the new normal and ensure the survival and recovery of our agri-fishery sector from this momentary setback due to the pandemic,” said Sec. William Dar.
“Since the onset of the Covid-19 crisis, we have made efficient use of half of our P64 billion 2020 budget, including the P8.5B Rice Resiliency Project (RRP), in providing needed interventions and assistance to millions of farmers, fishers, their families, and urban households nationwide.”
Under the RRP, inbred and hybrid seeds good for 717,377 hectares (ha) and 1,142,090 bags of urea fertilizer were delivered to drop off points serving more than one million farmer-beneficiaries.
The P10-B Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund program, now on its second year of implementation, has benefited around 1.5 million farmers and cooperatives.
To date, under the RCEF seeds and farm mechanization components, 2,829,323 bags of certified inbred seeds were distributed to 1,192,090 farmers; and 2,938 farm machineries were awarded to 625 farmers’ cooperatives and associations (FCAs).
For RCEF credit component, through LandBank and Development Bank of the Philippines, P1B has been loaned out to 5,671 individual farmers and 22 FCAs.
For RCEF training and extension, through the DA’s Agricultural Training Institute and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, 14,098 scholarships were granted to deserving students and 45 farm schools were established, with 18,350 specialists and farmers trained.
The Kadiwa ni Ani at Kita program has served 1,521,133 households and has so far generated more than P5.5B in sales, equivalent to the value of produce of thousands of farmers and fishers. – DA release