Department of Agriculture-MiMaRoPa Region hastily responded to the call of Secretary Emmanuel Piñol to introduce Production Loan Easy Access (PLEA) program to the farmers of Oriental Mindoro.
PLEA, which is handled by the DA’s Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC), is designed to address the financial needs of the marginal farmers and fisherfolk for a fast, convenient and affordable credit.
It was on July 26, 2017, when the Secretary committed Php 60-million pesos funding for PLEA during his Biyaheng Bukid in Bongabong, Oriental Mindoro.
On August 10, DA-MiMaRoPa convened the board of directors of Bongabong’s Mindoro Farmer Agriculture Cooperative (MinFaCo) and Bansud’s Samahan ng Magmamais ng Katimugang Mindoro (SaMaKaMi) to meet with ACPC.
The two cooperatives were asked by the Secretary, during his visit, to be conduits for the loaning program to make it accessible for the farmers of the province.
Allen Ducusin, ACPC’s Chief for Agriculture Development and Management, oriented them with the requirements and responsibilities of being ACPC’s partner for PLEA.
Also present at the meeting are Regional Technical Director Ronie Panoy; the Regional Rice Program staff headed by Ma. Theresa Aguilar, Regional Rice Focal Person; Marieta Alvis, Focal Person for Institutional Development Unit; Engr. Coleta Quindong, Agriculture Program Coordinating Officer; Ely Vargas, Assistant Provincial Agriculturist; and the representative from the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC).
After the meeting, the two cooperatives will be subject to requirement validation and will have a credit planning workshop. The cooperatives willingly said they could be trained this August 21.
Farmers who are interested in PLEA must attend the training to get the Juan Magsasaka Id and monitoring card which are the major requirements to avail the loaning program.
The Secretary promised that each farmer can borrow up to Php 15,000 per hectare with a 6% interest fee per annum, no collateral and is payable within two (2) years.
With this easy access credit, the Secretary hopes the rice farmers will shift to planting the hybrid variety to ensure sufficient rice supply. He has been encouraging the farmers to plant hybrid rice because it promises high productivity and will increase their income.
