THE Department of Agriculture (DA) in Western Visayas is providing rice seeds and fertilizer subsidies to farmers in the region in time for the incoming wet cropping season.
DA-Western Visayas, in its Facebook page, said it allotted P1.06 billion for the provision of certified inbred and hybrid seeds, as well as inorganic fertilizer to rice growers in the region through the Rice Resiliency Project (RRP).
Remelyn Recoter, regional director of DA-Western Visayas, said the project is under the agency's Ahon Lahat, Pagkaing Sapat (Alpas) Kontra Covid-19.
"It targets to increase our local production of rice and to attain food security," she added.
The RRP has three subprojects such as the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) -- Enhanced, Expanded Inbred, and Expanded Hybrid.
The regional line agency further posted that RCEF beneficiaries who received certified inbred seeds from the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) could avail themselves of two bags of Urea fertilizer per hectare.
The RCEF-Enhanced will cover 179,878 hectares of rice areas in the region.
It said that under the Expanded Inbred subproject, one bag certified inbred seeds and two bags of Urea fertilizer per hectare will be given to farmer-beneficiaries.
Those who cultivate good seeds or home-saved seeds will also be given two bags of urea fertilizer for a hectare of rice land.
The Expanded Inbred subproject will cover 47,574 hectares.
Meanwhile, one bag of hybrid seeds and three bags of urea fertilizer per hectare will be distributed to farmers who prefer to grow hybrid rice particularly in areas with sufficient irrigation.
About 68,234 hectares in the region will benefit from the Expanded Hybrid subproject, it added.
Recoter pointed out that for farmers to avail themselves of free Urea fertilizer, they have to present an official receipt indicating that they had already bought Triple 14 and/or 16-20-20 for balanced fertilization.
Farmers who purchased fertilizers since April 24 this year from Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority-accredited stores are qualified to avail of the inputs.
Recoter said all beneficiaries must have been listed in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA) to receive the free seeds and fertilizers.
"We should not depend a portion of our food supply from other countries as there are indications that other countries such as Thailand and Vietnam may secure their own production for their domestic consumption as global supply tightens amidst the pandemic," she added, echoing the message of Agriculture Secretary William Dar.
Moreover, the RRP aims to increase at least 0.3 metric tons to 1.5 metric tons per hectare average yield of palay production in the region. (With reports from DA-Western Visayas)