LINGAYEN, Pangasinan—Around 2,000 farmers of the third and fourth district of this province recently received supplemental subsidized certified palay seeds and fertilizer package from the provincial government.
Gov. Amado “Pogi” I. Espino III led the agricultural aid pack distribution ceremony at the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist field station in Sta. Barbara town.
Pangasinan is the third top rice-producing province in the Philippines. Farmer beneficiaries hailed from the towns of Bayambang, Calasiao, Malasiqui, Mapandan, Sta. Barbara and City of San Carlos in the third district and Manaoag, Mangaldan, San Fabian and San Jacinto in the fourth district.
“This is an augmentation to the earlier 23,900 agri-relief given to our farmers through the help of the Department of Agriculture through DA Regional Director Valentin Perdido for those areas with farmers who are planting this latter part of the year,” Espino said.
The ongoing distribution is part of the agro-industrial program of Pangasinan that Espino vowed to sustain to raise the quality of life of the local farmers.
The province is bracing for the incoming La Niña season next year by making continuous repairs and construction of the province’s irrigation facilities and equipment.
Assistant Provincial Agriculturist Nestor Batalla said the agri-aid package aims to help farmers increase their rice yields to at least one metric ton per hectare during the dry cropping season from October 2016 to March 2017. That would boost collective rice production in the two legislative districts by 2,000 MT/ha for the season.
Pangasinan shoulders half of the cost of the agri-aid, while the farmers bear the other half. Inside the the aid kit are one bag of certified palay seeds, two bags of urea fertilizer, and two bags of 14-14-14 fertilizer, which cost had been halved to P2,450 from its original market price of P 4,900.
“The use of certified seeds and appropriate package of technology is one of the vital components in rice production, which resulted to increased rice yield in 23 municipalities,” Batalla added.
These initiatives have secured the province the Rice Achievers Award from 2013 to 2015 and elevated Pangasinan to the Hall of Fame in April this year.
Present during the ceremony were OPAG-Officer-in-Charge Dalisay Moya and Mapandan Mayor Gerald Glenn Tambaoan.