Over 6K DavOro farmers get fertilizer discount

A LITTLE less than 7,000 farmers benefited from the Department of Agriculture’s P35-million fertilizer discount in the Province of Davao de Oro, from August 17 to 30.

In the Facebook post of the Provincial Government of Davao de Oro, it stated that based on the data given by the Provincial Agriculturist’s Office (Pagro) there are 6,928 farmers which covers about 8,777 hectares of farmlands in Davao de Oro who benefitted from the fertilizer discount vouchers (FDV) worth P35 million provided by DA. 

Farmers coming from the municipalities of Compostela, Maco, Laak, Mawab, New Bataan, Montevista, and Nabunturan were some of the beneficiaries of this initiative. The farmers who received the FDV were qualified beneficiaries for the program for farmers of rice and are registered under the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBA). 

These farmers are those who planted palay in the year 2023 during the wet season, those who received hybrid and inbred seeds from DA, and those who also purchased their seeds.

Jerry Aventurado, one of the beneficiaries from Barangay Basak, expressed how the voucher is a great assistance to the farmers and their livelihood. Through the FDV, farmers like him could afford the exact volume of fertilizer that is needed for their land area.

“Isip mag-uuma, dako kaayo amoang pasalamat nga nahataga’g katubagan sa gobyerno amoang panginahanglan labina nga lisod kaayo ang panahon karon diin ang tanan pamaliton nagmahal apil na ang mga abuno, tungod aning assistance o subsidy nga nadawat namo makatabang ni sa pag finance sa amoang uma (As a farmer, we are very thankful that the government has finally responded to the needs especially that times are now difficult wherein almost all of the basic necesseties have increased in prices, this also includes the fertilizer but because of the assistance or subsidy that we received this will help us buy suffucient fertilizer for our farms),” Aventurado said.

The discount voucher given by DA is a one-time use only and can only be claimed by accredited merchants of fertilizers by farmer-beneficiaries. 

DA emphasized how the agency is not only looking into giving FDVs to farmers rather, with this move they are helping farmers be able to afford fertilizers by improving their yield and income.

This initiative is part of the government's continuous efforts to further boost the agricultural sector of the province.

DA will next be distributing FDV to farmers in Monkayo, Maragusan, and Pantukan and it will start in September 2023. RGP