Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund

(RCEF)
Republic Act No. 11203 otherwise known as the “Rice Tariffication Law” was
promulgated to ensure food security and to make the country’s agriculture sector viable,
efficient and globally competitive. The law created the Rice Competitiveness
Enhancement Fund (RCEF) or Rice Fund to improve rice farmers’ competitiveness and
income amidst liberalization of the Philippine rice trade policy that lifted quantitative
restrictions on rice imports and replaced it with tariffs, among others. RCEF has a PHP
10 billion annual appropriation for the next six years, to be allocated and disbursed as
follows:

Components:

i. Rice farm machinery and equipment (50%) - The Mechanization Program

The program aims to raise rice farmers’ productivity, profitability and global
competitiveness through strengthened access and use of appropriate production and
postproduction mechanization technologies, which specifically aims to:
- Make accessible to rice farmers the appropriate rice production and postharvest
machinery and equipment through to the farmer cooperatives, associations (FCAs).
- Promote among Filipino rice farmers the use of efficient and cost reducing rice
mechanization interventions.
- Strengthen local agricultural machinery manufacturing industry through aggressive
technology development, fabrication and manufacturing.

Lead Implementing Agency: Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and

Mechanization (PhilMech)

ii. Rice seed development, propagation, and promotion (30%) - The Seed Program
The program aims to to increase the adoption of certified inbred seeds and integrated
crop management through the following projects:
- Promoting and distributing certified seeds of inbred rice varieties
- Mobilizing and strengthening local seed production
- Supporting variety development

Lead Implementing Agency: Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice)

iii. Expanded rice credit assistance (10%) - The Credit Program

This component aims to make direct lending program available in the form of a credit
facility with minimal interest rates and minimum collateral requirements to rice farmers
and cooperatives, to be managed equally by the LandBank of the Philippines (LBP) and
the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP).
For this, Landbank will lend up to PHP 500 million annually for the next six years to rice
farmers registered in the RSBSA and to DA-accredited cooperatives. For on-lending
cooperatives, an interest rate of 0% per annum shall be provided as long as effective
pass-on rate to end borrowers is not higher than 6% per annum.

iv. Rice extension services (10%) - The Extension Services Program

This intends to enhance the capabilities of the Rice Fund beneficiaries on modernized
inbred rice and seed production and other relevant skills for improved competitiveness
and income, with the following projects:
- Design and Delivery of Training Programs, Enterprise Development Assistance and
Communication Support Services
- Development of Farm Schools
- Implementation of a Training Scholarship Scheme

Lead Implementing Agency: Agricultural Training Institute (ATI)

Partner Agencies: PhilMech, PhilRice, and Technical Education and Skills Development
Authority (TESDA).

BENEFICIARIES

RCEF Covered Areas

RCEF covers 57 provinces with high potential to improve competitiveness (area, yield,
cost of production, share of irrigated area). It intends to roughly translates to 1,010
municipalities with about 1.89 million rice farmers listed in the Registry System for Basic
Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA), and rice cooperatives and associations accredited by
the Department of Agriculture, who meet the following eligibility criteria:

Farmer organizations:

- Must be accredited by DA or any accrediting government agency recognized by DA

- With members whose rice farms can cover a cluster of at least 20ha in one to two
adjacent villages in one selected city or municipality

For farmer-recipients

- Must be included in the DA-updated RSBSA;

- Must be a member of DA-accredited FO; and
- Must be farming in rice fields located in the selected municipalities