6 Iloilo towns among top rice producers

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III will award the country’s top rice producers and extension workers for 2012 in a ceremony at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) on March 15, 2013.

The 2nd Agri-Pinoy Rice Achievers Awards will honor six municipalities as among the country’s top rice producers and 58 agricultural extension workers in Western Visayas as top rice achievers.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) reported that the towns of Pototan and San Miguel in Iloilo, Dumalag in Capiz, Kabankalan in Negros Occidental, Sibalom in Antique and Kalibo, Aklan will receive P1 million each as prize in the form of projects and incentives. The extension workers will receive P20,000 each as incentive.

DA Regional Director Larry Nacionales said the Rice Achievers Awards was initiated to encourage local government units (LGUs), irrigators’ associations (IAs) and agricultural extension workers (AEWs) to contribute in increasing farmers’ harvest and incomes, and subsequently attain national rice sufficiency.

The agricultural extension workers, on the other hand, are cited as the main link between the farmers and the government in bringing about agricultural growth in the countryside. Of the total 58 extension workers, five are from Negros Occidental and 53 are from Iloilo.

The awardees were chosen based on the incremental rice harvest and average yield per hectare in 2012 over the 2011 levels, the amount of expenses and number of farmers benefited and the degree of rice seed utilization.