By Liza Agoot
In Baguio City, 1,021 farmers in Apayao province obtained their Intervention Monitoring Card (IMC) on Wednesday, the designated platform for future cash aid disbursement. Meanwhile, farmers in Kalinga province are set to receive theirs on Friday.
Danilo Daguio, Assistant Director for Operations of the Department of Agriculture-CAR, revealed in a Thursday phone interview that the region was chosen as one of the nationwide pilots for digital assistance distribution. This initiative also involves third-party sourcing of agricultural inputs like seeds and fertilizers.
Last December, DA pilot-tested in Kalinga and Abra province the tapping of third party distributors of the agricultural inputs using stubs, which the farmers used to claim the assistance.
With the use of the IMC, the 1,021 farmer-beneficiaries from Apayao, who were listed in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA), need to present to the accredited merchant the card whenever they receive any agri-related assistance.
“Through digitalization, the complaint of inappropriate items or brands will be avoided as farmers are given the freedom to choose from those sold by the accredited merchant,” he said.
The IMC digitalization program is an initiative of the DA central office that aims to make it easier for farmers to receive government assistance.
It is part of the nine-point agenda of the department on digital agriculture, which is science and information-driven to digitalize the process of aid distribution.
Daguio said the system also benefits the DA since “it saves the Department from doing the procurement process, cuts the cost of transporting the goods from the regional office to the destination province and also removes the expense on food and event organizing during the distribution.”
“Both ways, to the government and the farmer-beneficiaries, the IMC is advantageous,” he said.
Alfonso Artikulo, a farmer from Baluyan in the municipality of Flora, Apayao said in Ilocano: “I am thankful for the good programs of the DA. I have been receiving assistance since 2018 and I, with the other farmers, are thankful.”(PNA)
