The Department of Agriculture (DA) 6 (Western Visayas) and Negros Occidental’s provincial government are strengthening their collaboration in various programs this year as part of the initiatives to ensure food security among Negrenses.

Dina Genzola, officer in charge of the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA), said on Wednesday that the province welcomes the move of the DA-6 to step up the delivery of services.

“Our vision is (to) make Negros Occidental a food-secure province. We very much welcome the interventions, projects, and programs,” she said in an interview.

Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson and DA-6 Director Dennis Arpia discussed updates on the agricultural productivity and food security programs of Negros Occidental during the latter’s courtesy visit at the Provincial Capitol here on Tuesday.

“On our part, we will continue to collaborate,” Lacson said.

Arpia noted that every month, he intends to hold office for a week in Negros Occidental.

“We intend to further strengthen our positioning here in Negros Occidental. We’re working on clustering our operations. All of our people, personnel in the region, we are deploying them in the provinces. For all our major programs, we will assign personnel here,” he added.

Arpia said the DA-6 would help maintain the status of Negros Occidental as a top organic agriculture producing province and would also provide support for the livestock industry of the province.

“For rice, there are areas that are good, but there are also areas that are challenging. This year, we intend to make sure that in those with potential to improve, we will target the optimum (production),” he added.

Based on the OPA report, the initiatives of Negros Occidental this year would focus on rice, high-value crop, corn, livestock, organic agriculture, special area for agricultural development, multiplier farms, and National Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture Program. (PNA)