50 FISHING COMMUNITIES
GET ICE-MAKING MACHINES
By Manny Piñol
The Department of Agriculture (DA) will allocate at least P150-M to provide 50 fishing communities with modern Ice Making equipment which could produce between 1 to 5 tons of ice flakes everyday and reduce post-harvest losses estimated at 40% of the total catch daily.
The Ice-Making Machines are expected to be installed in the fishing communities in January to February next year, in time for the lifting of the 3-month moratorium on commercial fishing by March 2019.
The flake ice-making equipment will be granted to organized fishermen’s groups or women’s associations in the fishing communities under the Agriculture and Fisheries Machinery and Equipment (AFME) loaning program of the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC), an agency under the Department of Agriculture.
The AFME Loaning Program, one of the rural credit innovations of the DA-ACPC with an annual interest of only 2% payable in 8 years, is aimed at providing farmers and fishermen Easy Access to non-collateralized credit to improve their productivity and minimize post-harvest losses.
It is also a faster option in providing productivity interventions by allowing stakeholders access to funds to acquire machinery and equipment directly, instead of the tedious and long process of the government procurement system.
Under this program, the fishermen’s groups or organized wives and daughters of fishermen will be given access to loans equivalent to the cost of the Ice-Making Equipment and a minimal operational fund for a shed, electrical connections and working capital.
The groups will be allowed to choose the brand of Ice-Making Equipment thus giving them a leeway in acquiring a machine that fits their requirements.
The AFME Loans for flake ice-making facilities were designed by the ACPC following my travels to the different fishing grounds all over the country where fishermen complained of lack of ice and cold storage facilities.
In Kalamansig, Sultan Kudarat Province, in Mapanas, Northern Samar and in Infanta, Quezon, fishermen I talked to said they could catch more fish but were prevented from doing so because of the lack of post-harvest facilities.
In Kalamansig, Sultan Kudarat and Mapanas, Northern Samar, fishermen used ice cubes from refrigerators and chest freezers to preserve huge fish like Tuna.
This prompted me to direct the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) to identify the different fishing communities all over the country which need the Ice-Making Machines.
The next level of the campaign to lower post-harvest losses will be the establishment of Cold Storage facilities to enable fishermen to store their excess catch and release this to the market during the lean months to stabilize supply and prices.
The ACPC will conduct the Financial Literacy Training for the fishermen’s associations and women’s groups who will avail of the Easy Access Loans.
The AFME Loaning Program is also offered to farmers who would like to acquire farm equipment and machinery.
It is the latest innovation to the DA’s Rural Credit Program which includes the Production Loan Easy Access (PLEA) and the Survival and Recovery (SURE) Loans for Agriculture and Fisheries.
The PLEA, launched on June 23, 2017 with a repayment rate of 98%, has been cited by the Philippine Statistics Authority as one of the high impact projects of the DA which has increased productivity and lowered poverty incidence.
Since its launching in June 2017, the PLEA has already released over P1-B to farmers and fishermen.
For 2019, President Rody Duterte approved the increase of the DA’s Rural Credit funds to P3.4-B.
(Photos of the flake ice-making equipment were downloaded from public websites while photos of Filipino fishermen with their catch were taken by Reuters/Erik de Castro.)
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