Abstract
This case study investigates the implementation of Republic Act No. 11203, otherwise known as the Rice Tariffication Law, specifically the implementation under the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF), the Rice Mechanization program, and the Rice Extension program. Issues with machine literacy stood out during data collection, which explains why the farmers do not easily adopt mechanization due to their reliance on a handful of operators and the lack of working knowledge of operating the machinery. Data was collected in the form of qualitative information from the point of view of the members of the Lateral East A Irrigators Association; furthermore, key informant interviews were conducted with the Provincial Agriculture Office of Leyte and the Municipal Agriculture Office of Alang-alang. Beyond training, there is an issue with the compensation of the machinery for smallholder farmers, which even includes members of RCEF-accredited Farmers’ Cooperatives and Associations who can struggle considering the impact of the farmgate price of unmilled rice. The current association can barely mechanize their production due to the low number of production machinery and post-harvest machinery. Moving forward, more intervention must be done to properly mechanize rice production to compete with the unlimited rice imports.
Keywords: Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund, Rice Tariffication Law, Rice Mechanization, Agriculture Extension, Rice Machine Literacy, Farmers Cooperative and Association, Import Liberalization, Smallholder Rice Farmer, Palay
https://doi.org/10.65494/pinagpalapublishing.150
