DA TO EXTEND LOANS TO YOUNG AGRICULTURE GRADUATES

ILOILO CITY – The Department of Agriculture (DA) has introduced a new program that will encourage the youth to consider careers in the agriculture industry. Fresh graduates of agriculture and agricultural-related courses will be able to access agri loans from the agency to develop their farming project and innovations.

“We will encourage young students graduating from college, to go back to the farms and use the technologies and knowledge that they learned. For them to go back, we will extend loans to them—production and equipment loans— and the things that they need to develop the farms of their parents,” said DA secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol.

According to the agri chief, the plan was finalized during the National Management Committee (ManCom) meeting held in Nueva Valencia, Guimaras on April 24.

“Under the program, new graduates could avail of loans from DA Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC) for farm production, equipment purchase and agri-entrepreneurship to encourage the youth to get involved with agriculture,” said Piñol on his Facebook post.

He added that the loan will only have two percent interest and is payable in eight years.

Three agricultural engineering graduates of Capiz State University (CAPSU) Pontevedra Campus will be the first to benefit from this latest loaning program of ACPC.

Arnold Vanguardia, Bonifacio Doce, and Princess Sombilon had showcased their buko peeling machine during the Summer Buko Festival launching held on April 25 in WESVIARC, Jaro, Iloilo City.

“I was impressed, especially that this was designed and fabricated by young students from Capiz State University (CapSu). It is very encouraging. That is why I committed to provide research funds to them to further improve it. In fact,

I’m planning to bring this equipment to Belarus for the Bel-Agro Expo in June and to Russia in September,” shared Piñol.

With the credit program, the three students will now be able to improve the P50,000 worth of buko processing equipment that they had innovated as a thesis requirement.

“These are the kind of youth that we can engage in agriculture. Upon graduation, instead of looking for jobs, they have to form groups and fabricate these,” he urged.

He cited that the government is now taking steps to develop the high value products from the coconuts.

The Philippine Coconut Authority has launched the Summer Buko Festival recently to promote the local consumption of buko juice to solve the low prices of copra and other coconut products due to the glut in the international market of vegetable oils.

“The problem in the coconut industry is deeper than you think. It is institutional. Why? Because the government failed to uplift the coconut farmers from the level of being just a mere raw material producer to a processor and marketer of this product,” Piñol explained.

He told the CAPSU graduates to reproduce an improved prototype of the buko processing equipment.

According to Piñol, if the coco levy bill will be approved, the DA-PCA will establish village-level processing facilities for coconut in order for the farmers to produce virgin coconut oil, desiccated coconut, coconut syrup, and coco coir. ( BY SHEILA MAE H. TORENO/DA-RAFIS 6)