TACLOBAN CITY – The Department of Agriculture (DA) is allocating PHP313.5-million to increase rice production in Eastern Visayas.
This is part of the national government’s PHP8.5-billion Rice Resiliency Project (RRP) to ensure food sufficiency amid the coronavirus pandemic by boosting domestic production of rice, DA Eastern Visayas director Angel Enriquez said Tuesday in a statement.
“From this, we will be starting the distribution of hybrid seeds and fertilizer in time for the onset of planting season in some areas in Northern Samar and Biliran,” she added.
The RRP will cover a total of 112,035 farmers in the region through its three component sub-projects.
A total of 139,249 bags of inorganic fertilizers worth PHP139.2-million will be distributed under the Rice Competitive Enhancement Fund (RCEF) that will complement the inbred seeds of the Philippine Rice Research Institute involving 69,625 hectares of rice areas in the region.
Those farmers excluded in the RCEF will be supported through the Expanded Inbred Rice Production subproject, with a corresponding target of 9,565 hectares for certified seeds and 9,603 for good seeds.
Under the Expanded Hybrid Rice Production subproject, at least 10,820 bags of hybrid seeds and 67,320 bags of inorganic fertilizer will be distributed.
This is on top of the 11,620 hybrid seeds under the regular hybridization program implemented in the region that will cover a total of 22,440 hectares of rice areas.
“We should not rely on other countries for our rice requirements because there are indications that Thailand and other Asian countries may not be able to export their rice as they need to secure first their own domestic food requirements,” Enriquez said.
The RRP is part of the PHP31-billion supplemental budget of the national government to bankroll the Plant, Plant, Plant Program or Ahon Lahat, Pagkaing Sapat (ALPAS) Covid-19 program.
This aims to increase the country’s rice production by December 2020 by reaching 22.12 million metric times (MMT) of palay equivalent to 13.51 MMT of rice or 93 percent of the country’s total demand at 14.46 MMT. (PNA)
