As in previous years, the National Tobacco Administration has allotted anew P300-million as production assistance for the tobacco growers in the implementation of its Tobacco Contract Growing System (TCGS) project this cropping season 2021-2022.
The production assistance, given to the farmers in the form of cash and material inputs with 40% subsidy, is essential in producing the required volume and quality of tobacco needed by both the local and foreign market.
This will benefit about 4,000 farmer cooperators with target coverage area of 2,000 hectares in major tobacco-growing provinces in Regions 1 and 2, and Abra.
The amount, P100-million for tobacco production and another P100-million for the Curing Barn Assistance Project, is included in the proposed budget of the agency for fiscal year 2022. The agency provides another P100-million from its corporate funds to finance its market-driven tobacco production program.
With the subsidy, NTA will be giving away a total of P120-million as financial assistance to all TCGS contract growers.
According to Administrator/CEO Robert Victor G. Seares Jr., the agency has doubled the rate of subsidy, from 20% in the previous administration to 40% beginning crop year 2020-2021.
In his message during the opening of the pre-tripartite conference on tobacco floor price on October 21, Seares said that NTA initiated the increase of subsidy “to help our farmers reduce their production cost in producing quality tobacco and earn more income in their effort, especially in this very challenging time for agriculture due to the pandemic.”
The Administrator added that the entire amount goes directly to the farmer cooperators through the Branch Offices. The production assistance will cover the cost for fertilizers, crop protection agents, seedlings, suckercides, land preparation, gas and oil, fuelwood, and labor. The cost of production is also the main consideration in the computation for tobacco floor prices.“
For all our efforts, the agency is guided by our Farmers First policy, so we offer subsidy for assistance and other interventions for productivity in recognition of the huge contributions of our tobacco growers to the national economy,” he said.
Pursuant to Republic Act (RA) 7171 (for Virginia) and RA 8240 (for Burley and Native), tobacco-growing provinces and municipalities collect their share from tobacco excise tax collections, based on the volume of leaves produced by their local tobacco growers. The national government gets the biggest share from the excise tax collection to fund its universal health care program.“
We have to help our farmers, and this is the primary goal of our TCGS production assistance program, so that they produce the quality of tobacco required by the local and foreign market,” Administrator Seares said. To augment the income of tobacco farmers from tobacco farming, the agency also provides production assistance in Rice Production, Renewable Fuelwood Energy Farm, Improved Tobacco Seedlings Production, and Beef Cattle Production Assistance projects.
Last year, NTA distributed P13-million Emergency Cash Assistance to all its 6,668 TCGS farmers who are affected by the national health emergency due to COVID-19, and set up P10-million livelihood programs, including the Gulayan at Manukan sa Barangay and Vegetable Seed Distribution Project, to help in achieving food sufficiency.
In addition to the proposed budget of agency now under deliberation in the Senate and the House of Representatives, NTA has also requested an additional P100-million in its annual budget for another emergency cash assistance to all the tobacco farmers.