State-run Land Bank of the Philippines is on track to hit its P281.75 billion loan target for the agriculture sector this year.

In a statement, Cecilia Borromeo, Land Bank president and chief executive officer, said the lender has extended P230 billion in loans to the farm sector in January to May 2021, already 81.6 percent of its P281.75 billion full-year goal.
This benefited 2.7 million farmers and fisherfolk along with agribusiness enterprises and related projects by local government units (LGUs) and state-owned companies, Borromeo said.
In May alone, Land Bank released P73 million in loans to agriculture.
Of the loan releases at end-May, about two-thirds or P145.85 billion went to small, medium and large agribusinesses enterprises, while the remaining P84.17 billion went to small farmers and fisherfolk.
Agri-aqua related projects of LGUs and government-owned and controlled corporations or GOCCs also received P49.38 billion worth of loans, Borromeo said.
Small farmers and fishers borrowed a total of P1.24 billion through direct lending, and another P33.55 billion through conduits such as cooperatives and farmers’ associations, rural financial institutions and other credit mechanisms.
As of May, Borromeo said Land Bank has also provided P9.42 billion in loans from the P9.83 billion fund for farmer-friendly initiatives it has been administering for the Department of Agriculture.
For programs it has been administering for the Department of Agrarian Reform, Land Bank has provided P63 million in loans to agrarian reform beneficiaries sourced from the P65 million program fund as of May.
In terms of economic activity, funding support to the agriculture sector in the form of cold storage facilities, irrigation systems, slaughterhouses, farm-to-market roads and other projects reached P90.27 billion, representing the bulk of the P230.02 billion in loans as of end-May.
Agri-processing and trading activities received P85.13 billion of the loans, while the livestock subsector got P35.46 billion; crops, P17.16 billion; and fisheries, P2 billion.