By Butch D. Enerio / Correspondent
Claveria, Misamis Oriental— Tobacco farmers in this town who were adversely affected by the prolonged dry spell received assistance from Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Corp. (PMFTC) Inc. on Thursday.
About 700 tobacco farmers were given aid under the company’s relief program to help them immediately recover the losses they incurred due to the drought caused by the El Niño weather phenomenon.
The assistance included a “cost recovery package” that allowed farmers to recoup part of their production costs, and a food package, which included rice and grocery items.
More than 200 farmers in this town incurred losses, while the more than 400 farmers who did not plant tobacco also received some support.
Ravi Lumunsad, PMFTC operations manager, said farmers were paid the difference between the total labor and machinery rental costs and the total value of tobacco purchases as cost-recovery package.
Lumunsad said the food package was given to farmers to cover for the margin that they would have earned under normal conditions. The amount of assistance was 50 percent of the estimated earnings for each farmer. He said the farmer assistance program is “unprecedented” as no other industry or sector has embarked in this kind of aid to their planters whose income suffered due to the long drought.
The food-package assistance was worth P10,000 for each hectare planted with tobacco, or P5,000 for a half hectare. The package consists of P4,000 worth of rice and P6,000 worth of grocery items for farmers who planted during the months when the country experienced a prolonged dry spell. For those who did not plant tobacco, they were also given a food package worth P1,500.
Aside from the cost-recovery and food-package assistance, Lumunsad said PMFTC has decided to condone the loans owed by farmers from the company who took the risk of planting despite the prolonged dry spell.
PMFTC encourages farmers to plant other crops after tobacco has been fully harvested. Farmers who plant corn borrow corn seeds and inputs from the company at zero interest.
Claveria is the site of PMFTC’s continuous production operations as tobacco leaves are grown and harvested all year round. Farmers here plant the flue-cured variety which matches the excellent variety, grown in the United States and Brazil.