Over P11M cash aid benefitted 2,232 farmers in Kalinga in 2024

Tabuk City, Kalinga - A total of 2,232 rice farmers in Kalinga were given over P11,000,000 in cash assistance from the Department of Agriculture in 2024, according to the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPAg).

The cash assistance, said Ayessa Shyll Espiritu of OPAg during her interview with the PIA-Kalinga, is under the DA’s Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF).

Established through Republic Act 11203, RCEF aims to improve the competitiveness and income of Filipino rice farmers through a “multi-faceted” approach including mechanization, seed development, credit assistance, and extension services.

Espiritu said that each beneficiary of said program in Kalinga in 2024 received P5,000 or a total amount of P11,160,000. The beneficiaries are those farmers having farmlands with area of 2 hectares and below.

“Daytoy diay P5,00 each nga naited kadagiyay farmers tayo nga ti taltalunen da ket two hectares below,” she said.

Aside from the cash assistance, a total of 14,336 certified seeds weighing 20 kilograms each were distributed to eligible rice farmers in Kalinga for the dry season in said year.

Moreover, 13 farmers’ cooperatives and associations (FCAs) in the province also benefited from the mechanization program of the RCEF, receiving various farm machinery such as rice combine harvesters, tractors and recirculating dryers, among others.

OPAg said iKalinga farmers will continue to benefit from the RCEF until 2031 following the increase of its allotted budget from P10 billion annually to P30 billion through the Rice Tariffication Law signed by President Ferdinand “ Bongbong” Marcos Jr. in 2024.