Negros Coop Gets First Nod for P1-Billion Credit for Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries

Tuesday, 29 January 2013 17:18

The government has started rolling out a P1-billion loan facility for agrarian reform beneficiaries, with a farmers’ cooperatives from Negros Occidental getting the privilege of being the first group to get approval for P30-million credit line for sugarcane production projects.

The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) yesterday reported that the Negros Island Savings and Credit Cooperative (NISCO) became the first beneficiary of the Agrarian Production Credit Program (APCP), a joint undertaking of DAR, DA and the Land Bank of the Philippine.

The program provides for a P1 billion-fund to support credit requirements of agrarian reform beneficiaries nationwide. Of the total amount, P300 million shall be allocated to the province of Negros Occidental.

According to the DAR, an initial amount of P1.77 million was already released last January 11 to finance 29.55 hectares of sugarcane farms being cultivated and managed by 26 member-beneficiaries of NISCO.

The farmers’ cooperatives is headed by its chairman, Joel Palma, and composed of agrarian reform beneficiaries who are members of the Task Force Mapalad.

The DAR explained that the P1-billion credit facility aims to ensure sustainable production of crops and increase income of the program recipients by providing them with other support services such as marketing, crop insurance and farm facilities.

Likewise, it seeks to strengthen the Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Organizations (ARBOs) and improve the capabilities of ARBs through the provisions of institutional capability building assistance through the DAR and technical assistance for agricultural production management through the DA.

Aside from Chairman Palma, signatories in the loan agreement were NISCO’s vice-chairman Ronel Cañal, and Land Bank Lending Center head, Jeffrey Maningo. Also present at the signing ceremony were Marjorie Pontino, the coop secretary; Katherine Toleco, the coop bookkeeper; and Syvel Nobleza, the coop loan officer.

Maningo expressed optimism that the NISCO would make use of the initial fund release to ensure that the land awarded to the farmers under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) would remain productive.

Last January 15, 2013, the DAR and the DA announced that the national government has allocated P1 billion for agricultural insurance coverage of at least 224,036 agrarian reform beneficiaries nationwide.

According to the DAR, the P1-billion Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries-Agricultural Insurance Program (ARB-AIP) will be implemented in partnership with the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC) to ensure the productivity of lands awarded to farmers under CARP.

The program aims to protect agrarian reform beneficiaries against losses due to pest and disease infestations, natural calamities and extreme weather conditions brought about by climate change.

This is consistent with the integrated support services interventions provided by the national government to agrarian reform beneficiaries.

Targeted to benefit from the program are 224,036 beneficiaries engaged in rice, corn, high-value commercial crop, and livestock production.

An estimated 137,352 beneficiaries who are into rice and corn production are expected to contribute to a higher count of the total program beneficiaries as they will be under the program’s coverage for two cropping cycle.

On the responsibilities of the partner agencies, the DAR is tasked to identify qualified CARP beneficiaries as program beneficiaries, provide technical support to facilitate credit access, enhance agricultural production, and submission of indemnity claims to DA-PCIC through its Regional Offices, among others.

The PCIC, on the other hand, is responsible in providing the agricultural insurance utilizing the P1 Billion subsidy solely for premium payment of coverage of eligible farmers endorsed by DAR.

Both the DAR and the DA shall shoulder their respective administrative and operational expenses to ensure smooth program implementation.

The program shall be managed by a Program Management Committee (PMC) to be assisted by a Technical Working Group (TWG) providing technical support and a Program Secretariat (PS) for the administrative support. At the regional level, a Regional Coordinating Team (RIT) shall be created to coordinate the over-all ARB-AIP implementation within the regions/provinces.

As a complementary program to DAR’s various credit access improvement and agricultural production enhancement programs, the agricultural insurance program shall benefit Agrarian Reform Community Connectivity and Economic Support Services (ARCCESS), Agrarian Production Credit Program (APCP), Credit Assistance Program for Program Beneficiaries Development (CAP-PBD), and Microfinance Capacity Development in Agrarian Reform Areas (MICROFIN_CAP@ARAS) key program beneficiaries, among others.

The ARCCESS Project, which is being implemented by the DAR in 233 pilot sub-projects nationwide, aims to improve the farm-based net income of agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARB) through the development and consolidation of agri-based enterprises.

Through the DAR’s provision of professional services and common service facilities (CSF) or farm machines and equipment (i.e. tractors, combine harvesters, mechanical transplanters, and hauling trucks) to

ARB organizations, the project is expected to result in economies of scale in farm production. These interventions are expected to lead to farm organizing or consolidation and this, in turn, will contribute to better prices, improved net income, and sustainable livelihood of beneficiaries.