Some 108 hectares of rice fields in the province of Siquijor planted with hybrid rice under the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) Rice Resiliency Project II (RRP II) are ready for harvest this April.

This was bared by DA-Central Visayas agricultural program coordinating officer for Siquijor Gregolito Bunado in a statement on Wednesday.

Bunado said 328 rice farmers received 108 bags of hybrid rice last year under the RRP II which they planted for this dry season cropping.

He said while Siquijor is not a rice producing province, there are still rice farmers there who have engaged in rice production.

Of the 108 bags of hybrid rice, 40 were distributed to Lazi, 33 bags to Maria, 15 bags to Siquijor, 10 bags to Larena, seven bags to San Juan, and three bags to Enrique Villanueva, as facilitated by their respective Municipal Agriculture Offices.

“As for the hybrid rice, we will be expecting harvest by the end of March to April. We will still be doing crop cutting to get their estimated yield,” Bunado said.

These farmers also received some biological control agents, including 5,500 cards of trichogramma and 58.5 kilos of Beauveria to help them effectively manage and control pests in their rice fields.

Aside from RRP II, Bunado also said under the DA7’s regular rice program, some 98 bags of rice seeds were already distributed to 111 rice farmers ready for the next cropping season to start in April or May.

He said 250 bags of hybrid seeds are ready for distribution with municipal allocation of 100 bags for Lazi, 80 bags for Maria, 35 bags for Siquijor, 17 bags for Larena, 10 bags for San Juan, and eight for Enrique Villanueva.

Bunado said the fertilizers allocated for the RRP II are to be distributed to the identified farmer-beneficiaries through the e-voucher scheme of the DA. (PNA)