Land Bank Releases over PhP9B in Sikat Saka Loans to More Than 17,000 Small Farmers
More than 17,000 small palay and corn farmers have benefited from direct credit from LANDBANK as of end-June 2019 through the Sikat Saka Program.
A partnership between Land Bank of the Philippines and the Department of Agriculture, Sikat Saka provides direct credit and integrated support services to small palay and corn farmers who are members of Irrigators Associations or endorsed by Farmers Organizations.
Since the Program was launched in 2012, LANDBANK has released PhP9.18 billion in loans to small farmers in 45 major rice-producing provinces and 11 corn-producing provinces in the country.
“We have been working aggressively with the Department of Agriculture on programs that provide our small farmers with direct access to credit, as we relentlessly work towards increasing their productivity and income,” said LANDBANK President and CEO Cecilia C. Borromeo.
Among the thousands of Sikat Saka beneficiaries is Nueva Ecija-based farmer Ernesto Perlas who availed of the Program in 2014 with an initial loan of PhP82,000 for his 1.6-hectare palay farm. In March 2016, he was able to expand his farm to 3 hectares as his loan line with LANDBANK also expanded to PhP150,000. He continuously availed of the Sikat Saka loan for the succeeding cropping cycles until his most recent availment this June 2019 of another PhP150,000 – bringing his cumulative loan releases to PhP1.24 million.
Mr. Perlas expressed gratitude to LANDBANK and DA for the Sikat Saka Program, which he says allowed him to earn more out of his farm because of the low interest rates. “Mas malaki ang kita dahil ung hiniram na puhunan sa LANDBANK maliit ang tubo. Dahil kumikita kami, napag-aral ko ang mga anak ko dahil sa pagsasaka (Our income is higher because of the low interest on the loan we borrowed from LANDBANK. Because we were earning, I was able to send my children to school through farming),” he says.
From the initial 1.25% per month for the first two cropping cycles, Mr. Perlas has enjoyed diminishing interest rate for his succeeding loans and now only pays 0.75% per month because of his good payment record.
Through Sikat Saka, more small palay and corn farmers like Mr. Perlas are able to improve their income and grow their livelihood.
Apart from financial assistance, the Program also offers integrated support such as irrigation, training, market, extension, and administrative services. Program beneficiaries are likewise trained on credit discipline and financial management to teach the farmers how to save, pay loans on time, and better manage their finances.
Sikat Saka is just one of the direct lending programs that LANDBANK implements in support of the government’s aggressive drive to increase the productivity and income of farmers and fishers through greater access to financing. These direct lending programs complement the Bank’s menu of credit programs for conduits such as cooperatives, rural banks, non-government organizations, and microfinance institutions which in turn re-lend to small farmers, fishers and microenterprises.
