Zamboanga del Sur to get P35 M agri loan funds

The Department of Agriculture (DA) has extended a P35 million loan to Zamboanga del Sur to help improve the country’s lending for the farming sector.

Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said the department has allocated P35 million for seven towns in the Salug Valley Area of the province as part of the Production Loan Easy Access program of the government.

“The ACPC (Agricultural Credit Policy Council) will be back on Jan. 15 to conduct the orientation and training on how to avail of the loan and will accredit farmers who will then be issued the Juan Magsasaka Identification Card which would serve as their loan credential,” Piñol said.

Loan applicants are required to be members of farmers and fishermen’s association or cooperative issued and accredited by the DA. Farmers can avail as high as P20,000 loan.

The program has an interest rate of six percent per annum, which goes to the lending institution and cooperatives, and has no collateral.

Aside from increasing agricultural productivity, DA’s loan program aims to reduce and eventually eliminate the dependency of farmers on government subsidies and dole outs, and contribute to the administration’s target of reducing national poverty by end-2022.

The DA’s flagship lending program recently reported a 100 percent repayment record in the Cordilleras.

“Farmers organizations also expressed interest in availing of the equipment loan where reliable cooperatives and associations could borrow money from ACPC through its conduit banks to buy farm machineries and equipment at two percent interest every year payable in eight years,” Piñol said.