Liberalized rice trade in the Philippines not only pulled prices down but also benefited farmers as well as the poor, according to the World Bank. The World Bank deems short-term subsidies—like the so-called "NFA rice" of the past—as ineffective in lifting the food-poor from their plight, as...
Senator Cynthia A. Villar asked the Department of Agriculture (DA) on Monday, Oct. 21, to allocate P7 billion to finance the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) under the proposed 2025 national budget. Sen. Cynthia A. Villar asks the Department of Agriculture (DA) to allocate P7-billion to...
The reduction tariff on rice from 35 percent to 15 percent and additional government subsidies will lessen the cost of rice to P29 per kilo for the poor, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said. Balisacan said on Tuesday, June 4, that adjusting the...
The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) has expressed its support for the Department of Agriculture’s proposal to extend the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF). “NEDA is looking at that issue. There are pros, there are cons. I would like to think that keeping the RCEF...
The Marcos administration plans to expand the distribution of solar-powered irrigation systems, aiming to provide a consistent water supply to an additional 180,000 hectares of rice paddies, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said. In a statement Saturday, Feb. 3, the DA said that President Marcos...
LAGUNA – The provincial government turned over agricultural machinery and equipment to 30 farmer cooperatives and associations at the Laguna Provincial Capitol in Sta. Cruz on Monday, April 17. The distribution was made possible through the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF)...
Senator Cynthia Villar on Sunday questioned the sudden change in leadership happening at the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech), the key agency leading the implementation of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) program of the government, saying...
The Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK) has joined the Department of Agriculture (DA) in the distribution of cash grants to Nueva Ecija rice farmers under the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund-Rice Farmer Financial Assistance (RCEF-RFFA). The RCEF-RFFA program aims to provide unconditional...
The government will distribute direct cash assistance of P5,000 to as many as 59,125 farmers in Nueva Ecija to be funded from the excess rice import tariff collection under the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF). The Department of Agriculture (DA) formally launched this week RCEF’s Rice...
The Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PHilMech) has distributed farm machines worth P439.8 million in Leyte, benefitting 131 qualified farmers’ cooperatives and associations (FCAs) from 38 municipalities and cities of the province. The P439.8-million worth of...
The Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PHilMech) is now investigating fraudulent activities that have been taking place in the distribution of farm equipment funded by the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF). In a briefing, PHilMech Executive Director Baldwin...
Three years since the implementation of the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL), the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PHilMech), the government agency tasked to mechanize the local rice sector, has only spent merely 6 percent of its total allocation under the Rice...
