Quedancor steps up enrolment of farmers

In its effort to increase credit services and investments in the agriculture sector, Quedancor, the government's credit and guarantee company, has embarked on a massive enrolment of farmers under its various financing programs. The project aims to enroll at least 120,000 farmers nationwide in its values orientation and program briefing seminars from September to December this year.

Initial gains from this campaign showed positive results. According to Quedancor president and CEO Nelson C. Buenaflor, the agency has so far enrolled 66,835 farmers since the project began in September.

"On the average, the agency enrolls 2,500 farmers a day, and at the rate we are going the office can very well achieve and even surpass our quarterly target by December of this year," Buenaflor explained.

Through the help of the agency’s fully-named 45 district offices in key cities and municipalities nationwide, Quedancor plans to promote and disseminate information on the government’s various agri-financing programs. These priority programs include, among others, the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani — Countrywide Assistance for Rural-Urban Employment and Services or GMA-CARES financing programs for hybrid corn, inbred rice, cotton, seaweed as well as the program for Coffee Rehabilitation and Development and the Unlad Ani program for Hybrid Rice Cultivation.

Of the initial figure, 36,183 farmers were given program seminars on hybrid rice cultivation, while the remaining 30,652 farmers were enrolled with the various self-reliant farming programs on hybrid corn, inbred rice, coffee, cotton and seaweed. This farmer enrolment project resulted to the release of a total of P41.10 million agricultural credit to qualified farmer-clients, and Quedancor hopes to re-double this amount in the following months due to the recorded high rate of enrolment.

"Vegetable farmers are also part of this enrolment project," Buenaflor added. In fact, the agency head has just finished his ocular inspection of the enrolment campaign in Baguio City involving vegetable farmers in Benguet.

In a related development, Buenaflor also revealed that Quedancor has also provided program briefings and values orientation seminars to 74,430 urban and rural poor nationwide. A total of P66.78 million livelihood assistance has been released nationwide under the GMA-CARES for Urban and Rural Poor program.