DA releases P40M Bayanihan 2 cash aid to Kalinga farmers

By Larry T. Lopez

CITY OF TABUK , Kalinga,  March 16 (PIA) — The Department of Agriculture (DA) has released P40 million  financial aid to farmers in the province affected by the COVID 10 pandemic.

Jose Casibang from the Office of Provincial Agriculturist reported the assistance aims to help some 8,000 farmers recover from losses due to the pandemic. The fund was sourced from Bayanihan Act-2 under the Rice Farmers’ Financial Assistance Program.

Beneficiaries of the aid are small farmers tilling  three  hectares or below who are registered in the Registry System for Basic Sector of Agriculture (RSBSA).

The P5,000 aid is released directly to farmer-beneficiary through the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) cash card.

On top of this, DA is distributing free rice seeds and fertilizer to farmers here under the Rice Resiliency Program-2.

The province has a total of 20,471 hectares to rice production and contributes 1.3 percent  to the country’s rice sufficiency requirement. (JDP/LL-PIA CAR, Kalinga)