Over P4.7M cash grant given to Pasil, Kalinga rice farmers

Pasil, Kalinga – The Department of Agriculture provided a total of P4,715,000 cash grant to some 943 farmers in the municipality of Pasil, Kalinga affected by the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL).

The financial aid is under the Rice Farmer Financial Assistance (RFFA), a direct cash transfer program which extends a P5,000 cash subsidy to each rice farmer tilling not more than two hectares to partly compensate for depressed palay prices arising from liberalized importation on RTL in 2019.

The program sources its fund from the rice tariffs collected annually in excess of the P10 billion allocated for the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF).

In Pasil, the assistance was distributed earlier this month at the Municipal Evacuation Center in Tucol.

As disclosed by Agricultural Technologist Rebecca Wanas of the High-Value Crops Development Program, the barangay with the highest beneficiaries in the locality is Guina-ang with 198, followed by Cagaluan with 185.

Meanwhile, 71 of the recipients are from Dangtalan, 68 from Ableg, 65 from Balinciagao Norte, 54 from Malucsad, 53 from Pugong, 50 from Magsilay, 49 from Balatoc, 48 each from Balinciagao Sur and Dalupa, 32 from Galdang, and 22 from Colayo.

According to Wanas, few of the farmer-beneficiaries were not yet able to receive their aid due to verification discrepancy. Concerned officers are now working for the release of their assistance.

The distribution this month, she said, is already the third time that the agriculture department handed over RFFA to the same rice growers.

Recipients are advised by the government to make use of the fund for the improvement of their farms or their livelihood.

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