Tobacco farmers here received Monday agricultural inputs to help boost production and encourage others to take part in the city government’s bid to increase to 20 hectares the area being planted with Virginia tobacco this year.
Among those distributed are water pumps, irrigation hoses, shedder machines, and hand tractors.
Mayor Michael Keon said in a media interview that agriculture remains the bedrock of the city’s economy, with 50 out of its 80 villages considered as rural, thus putting premium on the agriculture sector.
Aside from the distribution of farm machinery and agricultural inputs, Keon said farmers will also receive fuel subsidies to cushion the impact of oil price inflation.
The aid to tobacco farmers was sourced from the city government’s share of tobacco excise tax amounting to PHP23 million. The amount will further increase with more tobacco planted by farmers.
City Agriculturist engineer Sheila Marie Opelac, in a separate interview, said it is “hard to convince farmers to plant tobacco.”
“They said the post-harvest is hard, from drying itself to selling. But our strategy is to provide production support. We’re giving them all they need, with financial support and incentives to those who will grow Virginia tobacco,” she said.
Aside from the city of Laoag, other local government units in Ilocos Norte are also strengthening their tobacco production with the backing of the Universal Leaf Philippines Inc. (ULPI), the biggest tobacco growing and processing company in the country, in close coordination with the National Tobacco Administration (NTA).
Many farmers here have started planting tobacco as one of their alternative crops as all the needed farm inputs, except labor, are provided to them at no cost.
In Ilocos Norte, the town of Pinili has the biggest share of tobacco excise tax with around PHP800 million released this year.
The additional revenue represents a locality’s share in the tobacco excise tax under Republic Act 7171, the law granting benefits to farmers in towns and provinces that produce Virginia tobacco.
Under this law, local governments that produce Virginia tobacco are entitled to 15 percent of national tax collections.
Since everything is provided to farmers here – – from seeds, fertilizers, farm equipment and barn — tobacco farmers are expected to earn around PHP70,000-PHP80,000 per hectare from growing tobacco alone.
“Agyamankami unay kadagitoy a traktor ken abono. Dakkel a tulong kadakami a mannalon (We are thankful for all these tractors and fertilizers. These are great help for us farmers),” said Luciano Dela Cruz, a farmer from Casili. (Leilanie Adriano)
(Source: Philippine News Agency)