Gov’t releases P217-M from ACEF fund for irrigation projects

Twenty-six different projects of the sugar industry and a swine center in Iloilo stand to benefit from a recent fund release amounting to P217 million from the Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (ACEF), Agriculture Secretary Leonardo Montemayor said yesterday.

President Arroyo approved the release of a P213.1-million grant and a P4.3-million loan from the ACEF during a meeting of the ACEF’s executive committee last Feb. 27

"The latest financial assistance was the biggest monetary help from ACEF. (This will) enable local agricultural producers compete with foreigners due to trade liberalization," Montemayor said.

Of the P213-million grant for the sugar sector, more than half or P138.7 million will be used to upgrade three research and development centers of SRA and enable the improvement of the DA in its capability to evaluate and monitor sugar-ACEF projects.

The research and development centers of SRA are the La Granja Agricultural Research and Extension Center in La Carlota City, the Industrial Research and Development Office of SRA in Quezon City and Bacolod, and the Luzon Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Floridablanca, Pampanga.

Part of the amount – P47.67 million will be spent for the construction and maintenance of roads within sugar mill districts of Bais and La Carlota in Negros Occidental, Ormoc and Kananga in Leyte, Tarlac, Cotabato, and Maguindanao, Montemayor said.

Some P6.6 million will be used to improve irrigation and drainage in sugar lands in Bais, La Carlota, Kabankalan and Bago cities and another P6.48 million will be allocated for the purchase of post-harvest equipment for the Lopez Sugar Corp. in Sagay City and Silay-Eb Magalona sugar mill district in Negros Occidental.

The rest of the amount will go to the purchase of farm tractors and implements, fund soil fertility projects, build training center in Victorias City in Negros Occidental, conduct pest and disease control studies in Bais, and undertake research and development pilot activities in Southern Leyte.

ACEF is sourced from in-quota tariff revenues of imported agricultural commodities covered by the so-called minimum access volume (MAV) system. ACEF was created in 1996 and will end in March 2005 although Montemayor is working for a three-year extension.