The Provincial Agriculture Office (PAO) has started the distribution of inbred seeds for the rainy season planting in different towns in Palawan under the Rice Resiliency Project (RRP) of the agriculture department.
Provincial agriculture chief Ariston Arzaga said Monday there are 11,042 bags of inbred and hybrid seeds and 46 percent of the allocation have already been delivered to the province.
He said Palawan has received the bags of inbred seeds, but they are still waiting for the hybrid seeds.
“Ito ay mga dati na natin farmers. Ang kagandahan nito dahil sabi nga nila ay enhanced, RCEF enhanced rice resiliency project ng department of agriculture with PhilRice. Dati kasi ang binibigay ng government ay seeds lang, ngayon ang ginawa nila ay (Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund) RCEF enhanced. Ibig sabihin maliban sa seeds, meron siyang kasama na abuno na libreng ibinibigay,” Arzaga said.
He said nine towns have received inbred seeds since May 21 distribution.
Roxas received 1,210 bags; Dumaran 1,218 bags; Rizal 2,967 bags; Puerto Princesa 405 bags; Quezon 1,761 bags; Bataraza 2,098 bags; Brooke’s Point 1,626 bags; Sofronio Española 1,278; and Narra 9,138.
Along with the seeds, PAO will also distribute free fertilizers to farmers registered under the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA). The distribution of seeds and fertilizers are part of RRP under the DA’s Plant, Plant, Plant Program in 16 rice-producing regions in the country.
“Halimbawa, ikaw ay inbred certified seeds, meron ka kung ikaw ay sa isang ektaryang farmer, meron kang dalawang abuno tapos kung isang ektarya mo ay hybrid, tatlong abuno ang ibibigay sayo. Pero ang kalakaran natin dyan para mas marami tayong production, mag-produce din ang farmer ng kaparehas na binhi,” he said.
Arzaga said that the allocation of seeds this month is only for the wet season. However, there is a separate allocation of seeds for the dry season.
He said that if there will only be good weather and no calamities to occur, PAO can assure food sufficiency for 291 days through the produce of seeds planted in the wet season.
“At the moment, hindi ko masabi yong volume, yong metric tons pero kung ikukumpara mo yan, secured lang tayo ng supply, gumanda lang yong panahon, gumanda lang yong ating environment, walang baha, walang tagtuyo na darating, sure tayo na 291 days,” he said.
“Ilang buwan na lang para ma-compute mo ‘yong isang taon, during wet season, may dry season ka pa na darating so we are assured of food supply basta lang maganda yong panahon, maki-cooperate,” he added.
Arzaga said they are encouraging farmers to enroll in RSBSA through the city and municipal agriculture office to be covered under its database.
According to DA MIMAROPA, Palawan has 17,868 farmers enrolled in RSBSA as of May 2020 update.
“Kaya nga kami ay gumawa ng information material na kapag wala pa ay pumunta lang sa city or municipal agriculture office kasi kapag ikaw RSBSA, kapag registered, automatic ensured ang yong tanim, meron ka iri-recover in case magkaroon ng problema later on. Kaya ang policy ng ating gobyerno na kailangan registered ka sa RSBSA,” he said.
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