AYUDA PA SA FARMERS

TATANGGAP ng P5 million na halaga ng farm equipment at  machinery ang bawat isang magsasaka sa  947 rice-producing towns sa Filipinas  sa ilalim ng batas sa Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF), ayon kay Senadora Cynthia Villar.

Sinabi ni Villar, chairperson ng Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food, na may P5-B alokasyon na pambili ng farm equipment sa pamamagitan ng Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech). Ito ay hahatiin sa rice-producing municipalities.

Itinatakda sa programa sa ilalim ng Republic Act 11203 na naglalayong pangalagaan ang mga magsasaka at palakasin ang kanilang pakikipag-kumpetensiya, ang pamamahagi ng  farm equipment gaya ng tillers, tractors, seeders, threshers, rice planters, harvesters at  irrigation pumps sa eligible rice farmer associations at registered rice cooperatives.

Gagamitin ang machinery sa land preparation, crop establishment, harvesting at threshing, drying at milling.

Ang local government ang mangangalaga at magmamantina ng equipment kapag walang farmer associations sa isang lugar.

“Mechanization of farm labor is our solution in reducing the cost of producing palay in the country, which is pegged at P12 per kilo compared to Vi-etnam, which produces a kilo of palay at P6 only,” ayon sa senadora.

Aniya, pinag-aralan ng mga eksperto ang  cost difference sa dalawang bansa at nakita nila ang malaking pagkakaiba ng labor cost na P3.40.

“We hope to bring down labor cost through mechanization. Under RCEF, our rice farmers will receive as grant-in-aid P5 million worth of farm equipment annually for the next six years. And they will be trained how to operate and how to maintain them,” ani Villar.

Sinabi pa ng senadora na naglaan din ang batas ng P100 million sa PhilMech para gamitin sa pagsasanay ng trainors sa farm mechanization at farm machinery servicing at maintenance. VICKY CERVALES