61 farmers receive incentives through Palay Marketing Assistance
Since the agriculture industry has been hit hard by the pandemic, the city government is constantly looking for solutions to cushion the impact on small players, especially on farmers.
Around 61 farmers received incentives from City Agriculture Office last October 21, during the first release of the Palay Marketing Assistance Program at Demo Farm, Koronadal City.
Under Palay Marketing Assistance Program, every kilo of palay a farmer sells through the National Food Authority will be given an incentive of 2.00PHP per kilo from the City Agricultures Office.
Since the NFA buys palay at 19.00/kl, the farmer will receive a total of 21.00/kl under the said program. The total amount to be received by each farmer will depend on how much palay the farmer has sold.
To give additional support, the local government also offered two city dumptrucks to assist transport of palay from farm to NFA. This is to help cut costs at the farmers’ end.
Jose Gandola, a farmer and resident of Purok Saranay, Brgy. Namnama, said he will use the cash incentive to buy more tools needed at the farm. “Gapasalamat ako nga may ara man sang ayuda ang aton nga gobyerno nga, at least madugangan ang galamiton sa panguma, sa amo nga mga area. So Salamat gid, nga may ara sang mga assistance, kabay pa nga Ginoo ang magadugang gid sang madamo nga pagbendisyon di lang sa amon nga mga mangunguma, bisan man sa mga opisyales nga nagadumala sini”, Gandola said.
The City Agriculture Office is currently preparing for the second batch of farmer-beneficiaries and still accepts interested individuals to avail of the said assistance. Farmers can reach out to assigned agriculture technicians in their barangay to know more information about the program.