The credit and financing arm of the Department of Agriculture (DA) has launched a new digital loan system that aims to make it faster and easier for farmers to access government credit.
The Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC) said it has started the pilot testing of the Agri Credit ePortal 2.0, or ACE Portal, in the Negros Oriental towns of La Libertad and Siaton.
‘We want every farmer, even those in remote areas, to have fair and fast access to credit. Distance or lack of digital knowledge should not be a barrier,’ ACPC executive director Rallen Verdadero said.
ACPC said 817 farmers joined the two-day pilot test, with 353 obtaining a combined P16.8 million in loans covering 489 hectares of rice farms.
The upgraded system features digital kiosks that allow farmers to apply for, verify and receive loan approvals in one place, a process that used to take several days to complete.
Verdadero said the initiative is part of the agency’s push to modernize agricultural lending and make financial services more accessible to small farmers.
The ACPC official said digital innovation would help the agriculture sector become more resilient to challenges such as droughts, typhoons or price drops.
Alongside the launch of the ACE Portal, ACPC also introduced the Agri Puhunan at Pantawid Program Track 2 under the Agri Negosyo Loan Program.
The initiative allows rice farmers to borrow up to P60,000 per hectare for as much as seven hectares, with an annual interest rate of two percent.
The ACPC officials said the initiative provides working capital for production and input costs while farmers wait for harvest.
He said further that the agency plans to expand the portal’s use to other loan programs and promote digital literacy among farmers to ensure broader financial inclusion.
‘We don’t just want to lend. We want to empower. When farmers learn to use digital tools, they become true partners in agricultural progress,’ said Verdadero.