DA: P30.8 billion to help farmers cope with El Niño

MANILA, Philippines —  The government has earmarked P30.8 billion in additional funds to the Department of Agriculture (DA) to support palay producers and stabilize the price of rice amid the El Niño phenomenon expected this year.

The amount was allotted to the National Rice Program (NRP) of the DA under the 2024 General Appropriations Act (GAA), which is up by more than half a billion pesos from P30.2 billion in 2023, according to Rep. Brian Raymund Yamsuan.

“We’re confident that not only the DA, but other agencies across all other concerned sectors would be fully prepared for this prolonged dry spell to ensure that our rice farmers get all the support they need to continue improving their productivity and incomes amid this challenge,” Yamsuan said.

The NRP fund, according to him, is “on top of the allocations for other national programs” related to rice production and locally funded projects to benefit palay producers, adding rice producers are also “assured of cash aid” amounting to more than P15 billion.

The P15 billion is sourced from the 2023 tariff collections from rice imports. Under the law, rice import tariff collections in excess of P10 billion will go directly to farmers tilling two hectares of land and below – in the form of cash grants.

“As of November 2023, the Bureau of Customs has already collected P25.55 billion, which means a surplus of at least P15.5 billion that will go to small rice planters this year,” Yamsuan revealed.

Under the NRP, the budget for production support services rose by over P1 billion, from P22.87 billion in 2023 to P24.11 billion this year.

These services include community seed banks, support to Regional Integrated Agricultural Research Centers, buffer seed stocking, insurance coverage for disaster response and pest control measures.

Yamsuan also pointed out that irrigation network services under the NRP received a significant increase of 40 percent, from P721.25 million in 2023 to P1 billion in 2024, in anticipation of the dry spell arising from the El Niño.

The drought is expected to last until the first half of 2024, according to projections by the Department of Science and Technology.

Just as the new year has started,