P400-M agri-fisheries loans okayed
Credit to Author: EIREENE JAIREE GOMEZ| Date: Mon, 21 Jan 2019 16:18:28 +0000
THE Department of Agriculture (DA), through the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC) Governing Board, recently approved P400-million worth of loans intended to boost productivity of farmers and fisherfolks across the country.
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said this development would offer farmers and fishermen’s associations and cooperatives loans at 2 percent annual interest payable in 8 years.
“This will now allow farmers and fisherfolks to buy equipment and facilities which the DA could not provide them under the regular programs because of lack of funds and also because these are not included in the government approved list of equipment,” Piñol said in a statement.
He said the P400 million was just an initial loan fund under DA’s new initiative called Agriculture and Fisheries Machinery and Equipment (AFME) Loan Program.
Piñol said this was the agency’s latest variant of its Easy Access Credit Program which allows agriculture and fisheries stakeholders “to borrow money without the usual hassles and stringent requirements of the banks.”
“While the loans will be released through established government banks, cooperative banks, rural banks and reliable cooperatives, these will be governed by guidelines set by the DA-ACPC aimed at facilitating access to credit for greater productivity and less post-harvest losses,” Piñol explained.
He said the loan program would initially benefit a group of fishermen from Salay, Misamis Oriental who applied for a P10-million loan to buy equipment needed to transfer their catch from fishing grounds to the market. These included a 20-ton fishing boat, an ice-making equipment and a refrigerated truck, he added.
Piñol said at least 100 fishermen’s associations have also applied for loans for the acquisition of ice-flakes making equipment and cold storage facilities to reduce their post-harvest losses.
The country loses about 40 percent of the fishermen’s total daily catch due to lack of such facilities. Local fish production has declined since 2010. As a result, the contribution of fishery to agriculture growth has been negative.
Furthermore, Piñol said covered by DA’s AFME loaning program were farmers’ associations who would like to buy a complete set of agricultural machinery such as tractors, transplanters and harvesters “so they could act as the service providers in their towns.”
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