Friday, June 27, 2008 P5M fertilizer subsidy to rice farmers okayed
KIDAPAWAN CITY -- The Provincial Development Council (PDC) in North Cotabato approved the release of P5 million as fertilizer subsidy to thousands of rice farmers in the province.
The money will be taken from the province's 20 percent Economic Development Fund, according to Cotabato Governor Jesus Sacdalan, chair of the PDC.
In a meeting Wednesday with the PDC, Sacdalan has recommended the release of the fertilizer subsidy to intensify the province's food security program.
The governor also met with the local rice millers and traders, including groups of consumers, to discuss solutions in resolving rice crisis in the province.
Although prices of commercial rice in some areas in the province have reduced by 10 to 13 percent, it's not enough to help poor residents of North Cotabato to cope with the crisis.
Earlier, the governor has conducted an ocular visit to a remote village in Pikit town where the construction of an irrigation canal is ongoing. This facility will irrigate some 3,100 hectares of rice fields in the area. The test run of the system is set next week, reports said.
The fund will be used to purchase fertilizers as government's subsidy to rice farmers to encourage them to plant more despite the increasing prices of fertilizers today.
A bag of fertilizer is sold from P1,500 to P1,800 in the province, said an official from the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist.
"It is important to help the farmers increase production and one way to do that is to provide them fertilizers they urgently need during this wet production season," said Sacdalan. (MCM)
