DA: Easy Loans Now Available to Rice Farmers

Rice farmers are getting some help from the Department of Agriculture starting this cropping season.

According to Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol, rice farmers can now avail cash advances from the government to be used for their pre-harvest requirements.

Production Loan Easy Access

Dubbed as the Production Loan Easy Access (PLEA), Piñol said that the credit facility was created to free farmers from the shackles of loan sharks and traders who charge exorbitant rates.

PLEA was established by the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC) and the National Food Authority (NFA) -both under the Department of Agriculture.

“The PLEA program is the government’s intervention to provide farmers an option to their “cash advance” requirements which they usually get from loan sharks and local traders who charge between 5% to 10% interest rates per month,” Piñol added.

A farmer can get as much as PHP50,000.00 from the loan, which is also collateral-free and will incur a 3-percent interest over a six-month period.

“(The loan is) payable after the harvest season,” he said.

Last Tuesday, the credit facility was officially launched in Sultan Kudarat.

To avail the loan, farmers have to register at the nearest NFA office or buying station.

“As soon as he is registered, the DA, through the Information and Communication Technology Service (ICTS), will conduct a validation of his farm location, the size of land and his projected production through aerial mapping, geo-tagging and geo-referencing,” he said.

After the validation, the NFA and the availing farmer would enter into a marketing agreement, which specifies that the farmer would only sell his harvest to the NFA. On top of that, the agreement cites that the proceeds from the farmer’s grains would be used to pay the loan.

Lastly, PLEA-loan-funded crops would be automatically insured under the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC) said Piñol.