More small farmers, fisher folk in CAR avail gov’t loans

February 24, 2019 Provincial

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet—More small farmers and fisher-folk here as well as in the Mountain Province benefited from the Production Loan Easy Access (PLEA) and Survival and Recovery (SURE) Assistance Program of the government last
year.
This was disclosed by the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC) Benguet focal person Krystle Ann Balingan.
The program covers a dozen areas identified by the DA based on poverty incidence and concentration of marginal farmers and fishers unserved by banks.
The PLEA program provides non-collateral loans to small farmers and fisher-folk. The loans are coursed through grass-root-based
organizations for easier credit access.
The maximum loan-able amount a farmer or fisher-folk can borrow under the program is P50,000, depending on the type of agri fishery, payable from two to 10 years with an interest rate of 6 % per annul.
On the other hand, SURE has approved loans of P9.725 million to 389 calamity affected SFF’s through five lending conduits.
The SURE Assistance Program is a quick-response, post-disaster support facility for calamity affected small farmers and fisher-folk.

Primo Agatep/ABN