A GROUP of farmers has urged the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) to give poor farmers cash vouchers instead after state auditors said farming accessories had been unused.
“This is why cash vouchers should instead be provided so that farmers can choose what they deem best for their use, whether machinery or farm inputs,” Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura Executive Director Jayson H. Cainglet said in a Viber chat at the weekend.
“That goes for fertilizers and seeds and other farm inputs,” he said. “Do not give them finished products or specific brands because those are recipes for corruption and failure, as the Commission on Audit report would show.”
Farm tractor accessories worth more than P10 million had not been used, according to an annual audit report of the SRA.
In its 2022 audit report made available on June 22, state auditors said, “the delivered accessories for the farm contractors, such as power harrows and fertilizer applicators in the total amount of P10.48 million were not used and remained idle because these were not suitable in the areas located in Bukidnon, Batangas and Cotabato.” — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz