LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – The provincial government made available some P15 million as interest-free loans that could be availed by farmers cooperatives and associations to help their members recover from the huge losses they have incurred due to unsold agricultural crops during this enhanced community quarantine period.
Gov. Melchor Diclas admitted that the funds for the province’s loan assistance program to farmers cooperatives and associations have been under-utilized in the past, thus, the provincial government has sufficient funds to help the farmers recover from the current crisis.
He added a number of farmers cooperatives and associations that previously availed of the loan assistance were able to renew and even increase their borrowings for the same as additional capital for their members for the next cropping season as most of them had been affected by the low buying prices of vegetables due to the low demand from traders based in Metro Manila and the lowland markets.
The governor claimed the loans that will be provided to the farmers cooperatives and associations are interest free and payable in 3 years so that there will be available funds that could be borrowed by other cooperatives and associations wanting to avail of similar assistance from the municipal government.
He assured interested farmers cooperatives and associations there are still available funds from the province’s loan assistance program that could be accessed purposely to help their members hurdle the challenges of the virtual stoppage of economic activities caused by the enhanced community quarantine.
According to him, farmers cooperatives and associations could borrow as much as P500,000 each from the province’s loan assistance program but the amount that will be released will still dependent on their financial statements to be evaluated by experts to ascertain their capacity to repay their intended loans which could either be renewed or borrowed by other groups awaiting their turn for similar service.
Diclas reports the province’s loan assistance program was institutionalized to serve as the provincial government’s standby support to the farmers, the major economic drivers of the province’s lucrative vegetable industry, in this challenging times of enhanced community quarantine.
Benguet continues to be the source of more than 80 percent of highland vegetables being circulated in various markets around the country with the vegetable industry having been the major industry providing the main source of livelihood for over 250,000 individuals in the 13 towns and neighboring provinces of Ifugao and Mountain Province that are considered as vegetable-producing areas.
The governor urged concerned farmers cooperatives and associations to take advantage of the available funds for them to survive the challenges of the present economic crisis.
By Hent