Implementing Rules of RA 7900: High-Value Crops Act

Applies to upland dwellers, lowland tenants, indigenous communities, CARP beneficiaries, farmers and farmworkers.
Engages farmers' organizations, agro-processors, input suppliers, transport, warehousing, packaging sectors, NGOs.
Encompasses government agencies and instrumentalities in DA-identified commercial crop production areas.

Non-traditional crops: crops other than rice, corn, coconut, sugarcane.
High-Value Crops (HVC): crops with higher revenue potential than traditional crops (e.g., coffee, cacao, fruit crops, root crops, vegetables, legumes, spices, ornamental plants).
Idle and Abandoned Land: Agricultural land unused for three years, excluding land converted to non-agricultural uses.
Alienable and Disposable Land: Public domain land classified as not forest land.
Forest Land: Public domain lands retained as forests and protected areas.
Marginally Suitable Land: Land with physical limitations affecting sustained use.
Cooperative: Registered association pursuing common socio-economic objectives.
Farmers' Organization: Cooperatives or groups of primarily small agricultural producers.
Small Scale Commercial Producer: Project worth up to ₱15 million.
Farmworker: Person employed in agricultural enterprises.
Upland Farming: Cultivation in elevated or non-irrigated areas.
Certified and Good Seeds: Seeds meeting genetic purity standards per BPI.
Private Sector: Non-government entities.

DA, DAR, DENR, DILG/LGUs, and private sector identify and prioritize areas with comparative advantage based on agro-climatic conditions, market access, support facilities, and viable groups.
Includes 1.3 million hectares of marginally suitable rice/corn areas and 1.2 million hectares of existing commercial crops.
Annual review required to align with national land use policies.

Priority given to farmer-cooperatives, associations, and indigenous communities cultivating or residing near land.
DAR and DENR may issue tenurial instruments for lands under their jurisdiction aligned with R.A. 7900 purposes.
Leases granted for up to 25 years, renewable for another 25 years, up to 1,000 hectares.

Adheres to DA’s Key Production Area (KPA) development approach aiming for modernization, competitiveness, and empowerment.
Encourages crop production in suitably located areas with market access.
Promotes cooperative organization and collective management of production, processing, marketing, distribution.
Emphasizes agribusiness record-keeping and sustainable environmental practices.

Initial capitalization of ₱1 billion: 60% for direct lending, 40% for guarantees.
Funding sourced from CALF, grants, and borrowings.
DA manages the fund through Agricultural Credit Policy Council and coordinates with BSP.
Participating banks extend loans under their lending policies; grace periods and maturities align to project economics.
Guarantee schemes encourage private lending, managed by QUEDANCOR.

Crop insurance expanded by PCIC to cover high-value crops.
Credit assistance available to farmer-cooperatives, CARP beneficiaries, individual farmers, and small-scale producers.
Credit guarantees provided to enhance project bankability.
Grace periods on government land lease payments depending on crop gestation.
Tax exemptions for participating cooperatives on national and local taxes following RA 6938, National Internal Revenue Code, and Local Government Code provisions.
Tax rebates to agro-processing firms buying directly from cooperatives.
Marketing assistance for promotion, fair trade, standards, technology transfer.
Technical support via research, extension, training coordinated by BAR, PCARRD, ATI, and other bodies.
Infrastructure support focuses on farm-to-market roads, irrigation, trading centers, ports; BOT schemes encouraged.
Postharvest facilities managed through coordination with concerned agencies and access facilitated.
Access to good seeds and planting materials ensured; importation allowed under quarantine laws.
Fiscal incentives applied through Board of Investments as per Investment Priorities Plan.

DA’s Agribusiness Group directs and coordinates the program across government and private sectors.
Authorized to hire manpower, contract consultants, acquire resources.
Functions include policy formulation, marketing assistance, research linkages, data bank establishment, investment promotion, monitoring.
Regional Program Coordinating Offices established under DA Regional Agribusiness Sections for local coordination.

Cooperatives benefit from extensive tax exemptions per RA 6938 including income tax, sales tax, local taxes, and import duties subject to conditions.
Exemptions last 10 years from registration or specified dates.
Cooperatives exempt from certain fees and court charges related to cooperative functions.

Exemptions cover sales of agricultural, marine, and forest products in original state, fertilizers, pesticides, medical and educational services, certain imports, and more.

LGUs prohibited from taxing income tax, documentary stamp tax, customs duties, some agricultural product sales, and transactions of cooperatives under RA 6938.
Other exemptions include taxes on exports, banks, and pioneer enterprises consistent with law.