DBP OKs ₧500-M loan for

Rice Farms

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

THE Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) announced last Thursday it approved a P500-million loan for a digitalized rice farming project in Albay that seeks to boost palay output in the province by at least 28,000 metric tons.

The DBP said it granted the funding support to various farmer cooperatives in Albay who will be the beneficiary of the “digital rice clustered farming” (DCRF) project.

According to the state-run lender, the project would combine advanced automation, precision farming techniques and data analytics to increase the annual yield of rice farmers by up to 30 percent.

“[The] DBP recognizes the immense potential of this innovative farming initiative to elevate Philippine agriculture to greater heights,” DBP president and CEO Michael O. Jesus said. “Through this project, [the] DBP is able to bring forward a revolutionary farming technology to the market and empower farmers to thrive in an ever-changing agricultural landscape.”

The DCRF project was funded by the bank’s “Expanded Rice Credit Assistance” program as part of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF).

De Jesus explained that the DCRF project would be piloted in Albay through the joint efforts of the Provincial Government of Albay, the Department of Agriculture, the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization, the National Food Authority, and the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation.

He added that the DCRF would consolidate individual rice farm holdings to achieve economies of scale. The project has already identified five farmer cooperatives that would participate in the clustering project, according to the DBP.

“The technology-enhanced farming solution would be utilizing a ‘digital transformation platform,’ which includes the use of satellite imagery, machine learning, and artificial intelligence seen to significantly boost rice production by 28,000 metric tons annually with 2,000 hectares of land with upside production by up to 70,000 MT covering a cluster farm size of 5,000 hectares,” de Jesus said.

The DBP is the co-implementer of the P1 billion annual credit budget under the RCEF. From 2019, the DBP receives P500 million to provide credit assistance to small palay farmers.

Created through Republic Act

11203, the RCEF is expected “to improve the competitiveness of rice farmers and increase their income” as Manila liberalized the Philippine rice trade policy. Last year, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has allocated P10 billion for the RCEF.