Philippine Tobacco Farmers to Receive Cash

The National Tobacco Administration (NTA) of the Philippines is poised to distribute PHP100 million ($1.73 million) to qualified tobacco farmers nationwide, reports GMA News.

The organization has identified 16,666 tobacco farmers as recipients of the cash assistance amounting to PHP6,000 each, which will be distributed on or before Dec. 15, 2024.

The funds are intended to cover tobacco farmer-recipients’ production for cropping year 2024-2025, which began in September 2024 and will conclude by June 2025.

The NTA said the recipients were identified by the agency’s branch offices based on the guidelines set and approved by the NTA governing board.

Among the recipients are 9,055 contract growers and 7,611 are non-contract growers.

The NTA said that beneficiaries of the cash assistance must be registered tobacco farmers with the agency and are personally tilling a tobacco farm “capable of providing adequate labor to attend to all activities in quality tobacco production, able to provide basic farm tools and equipment, such as plow, harrow, sprayer, work animal, irrigation pump, and curing bar/air curing shed, and should have adequate sources of good quality irrigation water and desirable for tobacco production.”