I believe it was Albert Einstein who said: “Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is Insanity.”
Over the last years, the Department of Agriculture has been implementing a Rice and Fertilizer Subsidy Program which was largely unsuccessful and rife with corruption but which has been done over and over again.
Insanity?
Well, following the definition made by the genius Einstein, it was indeed insane for government to continue implementing the program.
Consider these:
– Every year the DA Regional Offices buy rice seeds and fertilisers which are distributed to the farmers for free through a defective procurement process which does not consider the fact that the germination life of a rice seed could not go beyond six months.
– The procurement process takes about three to four months and by the time the rice seeds are distributed, the farmers have either finished planting their fields using local rice seeds or the germination rate of the distributed seeds is so low that they end up milling it for their consumption. Sometimes, the expensive seeds are just sold as ordinary paddy rice and government loses hundreds of millions of pesos every year.
– Since the rice seeds procurement is based on lowest bidder, more often than not, the farmers would end up being given the seeds of rice varieties which do not perform well in a specific area.
– The fertiliser subsidy is rife with corruption because since it is given out for free, farmers would tend to sell half of what they get from government. Also, the Fertilizer Scam was a perfect example of how a well-intentioned program could end up lining the pockets of people who have the connections.
– Both the rice seeds and fertiliser subsidies have been used for political purposes in the past, especially during the previous administration where rice seeds and fertilisers were distributed to farmers groups indiscriminately to promote the candidacy of the members of the administration party.
On June 23, during the 119th Foundation Day of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF), I shared breakfast with a group of rice farmers in the middle of a rice field in Barangay Mat-i, Surigao City, where I was confronted with an issue on the rice seeds and fertiliser subsidy program.
One of the farmer leaders said: “I can’t understand your rice seeds subsidy program. Our planting season here is December and your seeds would arrive in January. So, we just mill your seeds for consumption.”
That statement validated my view that the rice seeds and fertiliser program of government is flawed, rife with corruption, a waste of government funds and does not contribute to greater productivity.
On Tuesday morning, before I left for Rome to Chair the 40th UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Session, I met with key officials of the DAF and instructed them to prepare a program called National Rice Productivity Loaning Program which I will present to the National Rice Board and the National Agriculture and Fisheries Council for their concurrence.
Under the NRPL Program, funds intended to purchase rice seeds and fertilisers for subsidy will now be given to the farmers in a non-collateralized, 6% annual interest loan payable in two years and released in less than five days from the date of application.
This program is expected to give farmer a greater leeway in selecting the kind of seeds, provided these are certified seeds, that he would use in his farm and buy these at the time he needs these, instead of waiting for the free rice seeds from government.
This will also eliminate corruption in the DAF rice seeds and fertiliser procurement programs.
Since this will be a loaning program, the P2.5-Billion fund for the rice seeds and fertiliser subsidies under the National Rice program could be rolled over to benefit other rice farmers as well.
The NRPL Program, which will be handled by the Agricultural Credit Policy Council and granted through Irrigators’ Associations, or local cooperatives in rain-fed and communal irrigation served areas, will also include an amount for the fertiliser component.
The proposed loanable amount is P15,000 per hectare which would be enough to cover the cost of the certified seeds or hybrid seeds costing about P4,000 per hectare and 10 bags of inorganic or organic fertilisers.
Farmers who will avail of this program will be given a free crop insurance coverage by the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. (PCIC) and a medical insurance under Philhealth.
When validated and concurred by the National Rice Board and the Natonal Agriculture and Fisheries Council (NAFC), the DAF intends to implement this program under the Production Loan Easy Access (PLEA) Program starting 2018.
The old and rotten system must be changed or else the incumbent DA officials would be included in the ignominious club of the insane for doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different results.
(Photo of rice farmers downloaded from public websites)
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