BANGUED, Abra (PIA) – The Department of Agriculture (DA)-Cordillera recently launched the use of the Interventions Monitoring Card (IMC) in the province of Abra.
More than 500 rice farmers in the towns of Bangued and Tayum received hybrid seeds and fertilizers during the distribution of farm interventions using the IMC.
DA Community Development Officer Danica P. Tomin said that over P2.8-million worth of farm inputs were distributed using the cash cards.
“IMC is one of our ways of digitizing agriculture. This is one of the least costly ways to distribute interventions to our farmers. Na-reduce yung hauling and transportation costs for the department and mapapabilis na din yung ating giving of interventions because of digitalization,” she said.
The IMC serves as an identification cum cash card for farmers registered under the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA). Using the IMC, farmers can avail of different farm assistance by only presenting their cards to accredited merchants whenever interventions are available.
Jose Dauz, a farmer from Tayum, is thankful for the free seeds and fertilizers that help him reduce farming costs.
“Manipud idi adda ti ID ti farmers ket adu ti naalak met nga nagapu ti gobyerno ken nagapu ti DA. Idi adda daytoy nga card nagadon ti maalalakon nga bugaso basta pagnamayan,” he shared.
[Since I have this farmer’s ID, I get a lot of assistance from the government and from the DA, like fertilizers.].
Hermilo Gandeza, another farmer beneficiary, also expressed gratitude for the continuous support to farmers, especially agricultural inputs such as seeds and fertilizers.
“Napinpintasen tatta ta adda kastoy ta adu ti maitulong na kanyami nga mannalon ta dagitoy bin-I haan mi nga problemaen ken bugaso. Ngem nu agkurang ta kayat mi met ket napintas ti apiten mi ket naynayunan mi metlang,” he said.
[It’s better now that we have the cash card, and it is a big help for us, farmers, since we no longer worry about the seeds and fertilizers. If it is not enough and we want to have a bountiful harvest, we also add.]
Aside from easy access to agricultural interventions, the IMC is also used as an ATM card during payout of the P5,000 Rice Farmers Financial Assistance (RFFA).
“Yung IMC is nagamit na natin siya for the distribution of the RFFA through the ATM naman. Iyon yung farmer’s cash assistance na binibigay natin from the excess tariffs collected from imported rice as provided ng ating Rice Tariffication Law,” Tomin explained.
DA Rice Clustering and Consolidation director Emerson S. Yago also discussed during the Provincial Rice Technology Forum in the province last May that the IMC empowers farmers to choose their needed agricultural inputs for their farms and expedites transactions including payment between the department and partner merchants.
The DA has already launched the IMC program in the towns of Bangued, Tayum, and Lagangilang. (JJPM-PIA CAR, Abra/RJA-PIA GIP)
