By TED CORDERO, GMA Integrated News State-run Land Bank of the Philippines said Tuesday it has released P2.5 billion worth of credit assistance to rice farmers since 2019. In a news release, Landbank said that the amount was released through the Expanded Rice Credit Assistance under the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (ERCA-RCEF).

The ERCA-RCEF forms part of the RCEF, a P10 billion annual allocation for six years created under the Rice Tariffication Law. It is a P1 billion allocation shared equally by Landbank and Development Bank of the Philippines at P500 million each per year to provide credit assistance to small rice farmers. Landbank said it has been successful in fully disbursing the P500 million allocated annual fund under ERCA-RCEF from 2019 to 2023.

The ERCA-RCEF Program allows individual rice farmers to borrow up to 90% of their total project cost at a low fixed interest rate of 2% per year. “Landbank’s support to the agriculture sector is crucial to ensuring food security in the country. We are committed to providing continued financial assistance to our rice farmers to help them sustain their operations and improve productivity, especially in the face of challenges including the El Niño phenomenon,” said Landbank president and CEO Lynette Ortiz.

The state-run lender said the P2.5 billion loans released under ERCA-RCEF benefitted over 15,400 individual rice farmers and 270 cooperatives with more than 21,300 member-beneficiaries, which were channeled t.