By Manny Piñol
Iloilo City – Three fresh graduates of Agricultural Engineering from the Capiz State University (CAPSU) need not look for jobs as the Department of Agriculture is helping them become agri-entrepreneurs under a loaning program which aims to entice the youth to get involved with Agriculture.
Youngsters Arnold Vanguardia, 25, Bonifacio Doce, Jr., 21, and Princess Sombilon, 22, who all graduated last April from CAPSU Pontevedra Campus will get loans from the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC) to improve and mass-produce a “Buko” Processing Machine which they designed and built as part of their thesis requirement.
The “Buko” Processing Machine which the three youngsters designed was featured during the launching today of the Coco Festival held at the Western Visayas Agricultural Research Center ( WESVIARC) in Jaro, Iloilo today.
The machine caught my attention and interest since it was a better version of a similar equipment I saw last year in the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) Research Station in San Ramon, Zamboanga City.
I became more interested when I learned that it was designed and built by the three youngsters as part of their requirements for graduation.
Yesterday, during the Management Committee Meeting of the DA in Jordan, Guimaras, a new loaning program to be offered to fresh graduates of Agriculture and other related courses was introduced by Undersecretary Evelyn Laviña.
The program was adopted by the MANCOM as a new variant of the Easy Access Program of the DA.
Under the program, new graduates could avail of loans from DA ACPC for farm production, equipment purchase and agri-entrepreneurship to encourage the youth to get involved with Agriculture.
The three youngsters will be the first beneficiaries of the program and they will be provided a working capital to mass-produce the “Buko” Processing Machine.
The DA will procure the equipment to be distributed to “Buko” vendors to support the Coco Water promotions campaign of the DA.
The loan will have an annual interest of 2% payable in 8 years and is the latest variant of the Easy Access Credit Program of the DA.
The other loan programs of the DA ACPC are the Production Loan Easy Access (PLEA) which has an annual interest of 6% without collateral, the Survival and Recovery (SURE) Loan Program which is offered to farmers and fishermen affected by disaster and calamity with No Interest and No Collateral payable in 3 years and the Agriculture and Fisheries Machinery and Equipment Loan Program which is payable in 8 years at 2% interest per year.
The repayment rate of the PLEA is a very high 91% with some areas recording repayment rates of 100%.
(Video footage taken by Allan Jay Jacalan DA AFID)
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