LandBank, ACPC help Agri Dept.’s Sikat Saka program get started

Land Bank of the Philippines and the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC) each gave P200 million in initial funding for the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) Sikat Saka program.   The approval for the fund transfer was signed Thursday.   However, ACPC and LandBank are still waiting for the Agriculture Department  to complete the Sikat Saka guidelines.   “We are hopeful that the guidelines of the program will be completed soon so that loans to farmer-beneficiaries will be released in time for the planting season,” said ACPC director Jovita M. Corpuz.   Sikat Saka is a lending program under the DA’s Food Staples Sufficiency Program that gives small palay farmers access to credit, through their respective irrigator’s associations, for their dry season requirements.   Under the scheme, farmers are an interest rate of 15 percent a year for the first two cycles, with rates going down by 1 percent per cycle. Borrowers who pay their loans on time will also be charged with lower interest rates.   Farmers whose applications are approved can use their ATM cards to draw on the their loans under the program.   “The introduction of the use of modern banking technology will bring about an empowering impact to the farmers in the countryside,” noted Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala.   LandBank president and CEO Gilda Pico said that they are looking forward to making the Sikat Saka Program one of the strategies in reaching the 55 municipalities that still remain unserved by the bank. Under Sikat Saka, the National Food Authority, National Irrigation Administration, Agricultural Training Institute, and National Agribusiness Corp., will offer farmer beneficiaries the technical support they need to succeed. — AL/VS, GMA News