PhilRice distributes rice seeds ahead of dry season
By Renelle L. Escuadro
BUTUAN CITY – The Department of Agriculture (DA) through the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) recently kick started the rice seeds distribution to prepare and sustain the farmers for the next planting season, from December to April, as the Dry Season 2024.
Through the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF), 690 farmers in the Province of Dinagat Islands who are registered in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA), initially received sacks of rice seeds from the DA Caraga – PhilRice.
Per record, the local government unit of Basilisa had 250 farmer-beneficiaries. LGU - Tubajon, on the other hand, accommodated 440 recipients of the said program.
PhilRice - Agusan made a noteworthy performance when it leveraged the rice seeds distribution in the remaining LGU’s of the province, including Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur, Davao del Sur and Davao del Norte, as part of its area of responsibility, primarily to equip the farmers with necessary resources that will motivate them to cultivate their land for the upcoming dry season.
Accordingly, the PhilRice brought the RCEF closer and convenient to the farmers, as they took a proactive step to coordinate with the respective municipal agriculture offices in the country and tap the farmers for the schedule of the RCEF seed delivery in their areas.
Bernarda Cadang, a farmer beneficiary shared that each sack contains 20 kilos of rice seeds and allocation to the farmers is dependent on their size of land.
“Dako akong pasalamat nga nakadawat ko ug libre nga semilya. Sa akong experience sakto na ang 20 kilos sa tunga ka ektarya [ I am truly grateful that I received free rice seeds. In my experience the 20 kilos of rice seeds are enough for a half hectare of land],” Cadang added.
The Philippines, with its rich fertile soil, is ideal to plant and grow rice all year round. It is also possible to grow at least three crops in a year.
In the PhilRice data as of 2022, the country produced a 19.76 million metric tons (MT) of palay from 4.80 million hectares comprising 3.34 million hectares of irrigated areas, while 1.46 million hectares of non-irrigated areas.
To recall, early this year, the administration sought to achieve 100% rice self-sufficiency by year 2027, with a target goal of increasing and achieving 26.86 million MT of rice.
With strong and stable support from the government to enhance rice production in the country, certainly our local farmers look forward to more productive and better days ahead. (RLE/PIA-Caraga)
