ALICIA, Isabela (PIA) - -The local government unit here will maintain its assistance to farmers due to the current lowering of prices of rice products and the continuing restrictions brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mayor Joel Amos Alejandro said that they will continue to buy rice products from their more than 1,000 farmers in the municipality.
Through a P65 million-worth credit facility for a permanent working capital under the Land Bank of the Philippine’s (LBP) Palay at Mais ng Lalawigan Lending Program, farmers in the municipality are assured of stable prices fo their harvested rice products.
“We started this program in March 2020 to cushion the loses of farmers from the COVID-19 Pandemic and it worked. More and more farmers have availed of our program,” Alejandro said.
He added that the LGU has partnered with farmers associations and cooperatives to operationalize the program and ensure food productivity and sufficiency.
Every cropping season, the LGU buys the farmers’ products from P15 to P16 per kilo of wet palay, and P19 to P20 for dry palay.
In turn, the LGU sells these procured products, which are processed into milled rice in public markets and other government institutions such as government hospitals, jails, and other entities.
The LGU also signed lease contracts with millers and warehouse owners to set up a streamlined rice milling arrangement in the area.
“This program also helped us in providing rice assistance to poor villagers of our municipality when the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020,” Alejandro further said.
With the increasing participation of farmers in the program, the LGU budget allocation has gone up from P7 million in its initial implementation to P27 million at present.
He also said that the program aims to lift the morale and inspire their local farmers to produce more for their income, and to ensure food security.
“Our purpose here is to let our farmers gain from this program. Of course, there are loses but these are minimal. What is important is that our farmers are fully benefited,” Alejandro explained. (JKC/BME/PIA Nueva Vizcaya)
