Eastern Visayas farmers assured of sustained maximum yield

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

THE National Food Authority (NFA) in Eastern Visayas said rice farmers in the region are assured of sustained maximum yield with the completion of its three-year Rapid Seed Supply Financing Project (RaSSFiP).

RaSSFiP is a sub-component of Rapid Food Production Enhancement Program (RaFPEP) funded by the European Union (EU) Food Facility.

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In a presentation before the EU Food Facility representatives that recently conducted inspection on the project, NFA-Eastern Visayas regional manager Alan Borja said RaSSFiP has distributed a total of 63,003.125 bags of certified seeds benefiting some 39,777 rice farmers all over the region.
 
RaSSFiP started in Eastern Visayas in September 2009 and ended September 2011. The project targeted rice areas producing less than 3.8 metric tons per hectare, providing 50 percent subsidy to the cost of a 40-kg bag of certified rice seeds.
 
“The farmers were relieved from burden of buying certified rice seeds from the original price of P1,200. The program aims to contribute in improving the quality of life of rice farming households in rain-fed and irrigated areas,” Borja said.
 
Borja added that by contributing in strengthening the production of rice-producing areas such as Eastern Visayas, RaSSFiP can help achieve national rice self-sufficiency that will reduce, if not, stop rice importation by 2013.
 
Under the 2011-2016 regional rice industry road map, the region targets a 1.285-million metric ton (MT) output and annual average yield per hectare of 4.76 MT by 2016.
 
Aside from Eastern Visayas, RaSSFiP also covered the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol Region, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao, Socckssargen and Caraga region.
 
Borja said for the three phases of project implementation, Leyte had the most number of certified rice seeds that were distributed amounting to 42,861 bags to 22,811 farmers.
 
"During the first phase, other provinces were unable to procure during the period as no seed growers were able to comply the procurement requirements under RA 9184. No subsequent procurement had been made considering the volume of inventories that were still undistributed and later converted into ordinary palay," Borja said.
 
Apart from rice farmers, the project also helped local seed growers and seed grower cooperatives who produced the seeds that were distributed to the farmers.
 
"The certified seeds have high germination rate to boost the yield of rice farmers by a minimum of ten percent," Borja added.
 
"We ended with 100 percent accomplishment based on our target. We were able to distribute 23,544 bags of certified seeds to farmer-recipients. The original target was 23,514 bags," Borja said.

Total certified rice seeds procurement for the entire project in the region reached P89.763 million.
 
Borja added that the distribution of certified rice seeds would help the region’s rice production growth target this year.
 
This year, the Department of Agriculture (DA) is targeting to harvest 1.014 million MT of palay in the region and raise the average yield per hectare to 3.51 MT from 3.37 MT in 2011.
 
DA reported that the region’s rice production grew 2.68 percent in 2011, at least 5 percent lower in the annual growth target. (Leyte Samar Daily Express)