The Department of Agriculture (DA) is pushing for the legislation of a National Easy Access Credit Program for Agriculture and Fishery to assure that all initiatives for the development of rural communities will be sustained.
This according to Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol in a forum in Batangas.
Piñol announced that a group of technical experts is already on the drawing board for the drafting of a law for agri-fishery credit.
“This way farmers and fishers will be assured of financing and that the programs of the government will be sustained even if there is a new President and Secretary of Agriculture,” he said.
The Secretary also announced that he is set to complete the 13,000 kilometer-road backlog before the end of the term of President Duterte.
“The BUILD, BUILD, BUILD program of the government will be useless unless we complete the farm-to-market road networks that will provide access to and from food production areas in the provinces,” he said.
The Secretary, together with CALABARZON Regional Executive Director Arnel de Mesa, distributed more than P100-million worth of interventions to farmers’ and fishers’ organizations, and local governments in the province of Batangas.
The assistance packages consist of four wheel drive tractors, hand tractors, cassava chippers, corn shellers, grain dryers, mini rice mills, and water pumps with engines among others to hundreds of agricultural stakeholders who attended the TAPATAN forum in Lipa City.
During the face to face dialogue, Piñol approved requests and appeals of the farmers and fishers including funding assistance for the production of onion and garlic in Sto. Tomas.
“We will provide a PhP100,000/hectare loan for the production of garlic and onion, following a thorough assessment of your land,” he said.
Piñol added that the organization, based in Sto. Tomas, Batangas, will be required to attend training and skills enhancement.
“Kaya po TAPATAN itong ginagawa natin, kasi kung pwede naman ibigay sa inyo ang inyong hiling ibibigay naman namin agad, kung kailangan pang pag-aralan, magpapadala kami ng tao para mag-conduct ng assessment at validation,” he added.
The DA is set to develop production areas for onion and garlic, so that the local markets will not depend on imported produce.
