P205 M set for Ilocos farmers
By Freddie G. Lazaro
SAN JUAN, Ilocos Sur — The Department of Agriculture has allocated P205 million as subsidy to farmers for the procurement of certified seeds in the Ilocos Region.
The DA said certified rice seeds will be planted to 270,000 hectares of farms in the region. The seeds will be sold to the farmers in this coming rice-planting at a subsidized cost of P440 per bag instead of P1,200, which is the commercial price.
One bag of certified seeds is recommended for planting to one-hectare rice farm.
Lawyer Cipriano Santiago, Region 1 executive director of the DA, said during a farmers forum in this town that of P1,200 cost per bag, P760 is shouldered by the DA.
The farmers forum, which was hosted by Ilocos Sur Gov. Deogracias Victor "DV" B. Savellano and held at the BaRang-ay demo farm here, was attended by the agricultural technicians, local officials, and leaders of farmers.
"We come up with the subsidy for the procurement of certified rice seeds for distribution to our farmers because we wanted to help them (farmers) due to the sudden increase in price of certified seeds," Santiago said.
He noted the former price was P880, but now it is P1,200 per bag."
He said grant of subsidy for certified seeds is one way of realizing the region’s target on rice production this year which is 1.7 million metric tons, up by 6.25 percent from the 1.6 million tons produced last year.
"We are recommending the use of certified seeds in rice production for our farmers because its yield is higher than the ordinary rice seeds," he said.
For the farmers to qualify as recipients of the subsidized certified seeds, Santiago said, they should now register with the office of the municipal agriculturist in their town.
Meanwhile, certified seed growers, who attended the farmers forum, complained about the delayed payment of their certified seeds by the national government.
To solve the problem of the seed growers, Savellano said the province will buy all certified rice seeds for the program.
The amount paid by the province will be later reimbursed by the DA regional office.
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