Butuan LGU distributes fertilizer vouchers to 1,057 farmers
By Mariesh F. Celedeña
BUTUAN CITY (PIA) —The city government of Butuan, through its Agriculture and Veterinary Department (CAVD), recently distributed fertilizer discount vouchers to 1,057 farmers from its 45 barangays.
This initiative supported the local farmers by reducing operation costs and increasing their production and income.
According to Engineer Pierre Anthony D. Joven, head of CAVD, the amount of the discount vouchers varies depending on the type of seed planted by the farmers.
“For farmers planting certified inbred seeds they will receive a discount voucher amount to P3,400 per hectare. Farmers planting hybrid seeds will receive a P5,000 worth of discount voucher,” said Joven.
“The department released more than P5 million worth of discount vouchers to cover a total of 1,488 hectares of rice land during the distribution,” he added. “The discount vouchers will be used by the recipient farmers for the current cropping season to purchase fertilizers for the nourishment of` the newly planted rice.”
Marivic Garcillano, a farmer from Barangay Baan Integrated Farmers Association Inc., expressed gratitude to CAVD for the continued support to farmers, saying, “I am very grateful to CAVD and the Department of Agriculture for their support, especially now that the buying price of rice is low.”
“Every cropping season, CAVD has support programs and services for the farmers in Butuan City. Some of the services we received are free such as rice seeds, machineries for our association, micronutrients, and more. We no longer allocate a separate budget for these farm inputs,” she said.
Meanwhile, the farmers also received vouchers for soil ameliorant, a chemical used to improve the soil condition of the rice fields. (MFC, with a report from Butuan City PIO)
