Cebu Pacific Back To Full Year Profit After Pandemic Losses

Cebu Pacific soars to new heights with Php 90.6 billion in revenue for 2023, marking a 60% increase from the previous year!

FDA DG Assists Small Businesses With BBMSME Program, Joins First Lady in Tuguegarao

Food and Drug Administration Director General Dr. Samuel Zacate partners with Tuguegarao Mayor to empower local entrepreneurs through Bigyan-Halaga, Bangon Micro, Medium and Small Enterprises program.

Tala’s Iona Inigo-Mayo Shares Its Empowerment On The Organization And Its Customers

Gender-inclusive workplaces drive success! Tala empowers women, fostering leadership & financial independence, transforming lives and communities globally.

HONOR PH Introduces HONOR X7b, Another High-Quality Phone Without Breaking Your Wallet

HONOR Philippines locally debuts the durable, budget-friendly HONOR X7b, boasting impressive features like extended battery life and superb display.

Nueva Ecija Gets P40-M Palay Drying Facilities

0

Nueva Ecija Gets P40-M Palay Drying Facilities

How do you feel about this story?

Like
Love
Haha
Wow
Sad
Angry

The Department of Agriculture (DA) has allocated warehouses with dryers in eight places in this province, including this municipality, in a bid to help reduce post-harvest losses among rice farmers.

This was disclosed by Agriculture Secretary William Dar after gracing the inauguration of the first of 80 Rice and Corn Education Farms (EduFarm) to be built in the country in Barangay Homestead II here on Tuesday.

He said that each facility costs PHP5 million, for a total of PHP40 million in Nueva Ecija, that will be released within the next three months.

The fund for these facilities, he explained, comes from the department’s budget for this year.

He said the program will be undertaken by the DA Regional Field Office 3 (RFO3) led by Director Cris Bautista, whom he tasked to coordinate with the Nueva Ecija provincial government to completely identify other beneficiaries.

Asked on assurance that the facilities will not be wasted, Dar said the agency should have learned its lessons already.

“Dapat natuto na kami. Dapat natuto na ang mga kawani ng Kagawaran ng Pagsasaka na huwag na ulitin yung mga hindi gumagana na mga teknolohiya (we should have learned. The personnel of the Department of Agriculture should have learned not to again use those technologies which are not working),” Dar said.

Meanwhile, he reiterated the need to continuously implement rice tariffication amid complaints from farmers over the low prices of palay.

“Matagal na dapat (it should have been done a long time ago). So, this is now the time to bite the bullet. And biting the bullet we have birth pains kagaya nito (like this),” he said.

He was, however, quick to underscore the “very positive” effects of the law. “The rice prices have already dropped,” he said.

Dar expressed optimism that the national average rice production per unit area will increase from four metric tons per hectare to six metric tons per hectare over the next six years.

“So, with all the other component requirements (like) irrigation systems development and others like proper or good agricultural practices the lives of the rice farmers will be uplifted,” he said.

With Dar during his visit here were local officials and officers of the hybrid rice and corn producer Corteva Agriscience, along with some 200 stakeholders.

He visited the demo farm which includes a training shed that provides “close up experience of the project.”

Former Talavera mayor and municipal administrator Nerito Santos Sr. proposed the provision of solar-powered irrigation system in his town, which is 80 percent agricultural, saying this will ensure increased productivity. Dar vowed to study the proposal.

Earlier in the day, the secretary witnessed the harvesting of Edamame or young soybean for the first time in the country in a 20-hectare farm located in Barangay Talipapa, Cabanatuan City, this province.

This a joint project of the Top Shelf Corp and North Luzon farmers’ cooperatives. (PNA)