The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) in Bicol is now preparing for the implementation of the contract farming program that will benefit more than 1,200 farmers belonging to 21 irrigators associations (IAs) in two provinces in the Bicol Region.

In an interview on Thursday, Ma. Cleofe Baraero, NIA-Bicol information officer, said the contract farming program aims to increase rice buffer stocks in the region by assisting the farmers with farm inputs of PHP50,000 for every tilted hectare.

“The farmers beneficiaries for this program will not receive cash but farm inputs worth PHP50,000. This includes but is not limited to seeds, fertilizers, and their insurance. It will be based on the needs of the farmers. This is on the part of (the) NIA, while for the IAs, it will be the production labor,” she said.

Baraero said a total of 1,544.32 hectares of rice fields in the towns of Goa, Minalabac, Buhi, Bula, Ocampo, Nabua, and Libmanan in Camarines Sur and towns of Bulan and Gubat in Sorsogon province will be included in the program.

Baraero said that after the harvest, the IAs will receive a compensation of PHP50,000 for the minimum production target of five metric tons for the wet season and six metric tons for the dry season or at least 100 sacks of palay.

“Bibilhin ng NIA ung harvest nila. Ang hinihingi ng NIA ay five metric tons and six metric tons or 100 sacks of palay, pag sobra doon ang ani nila, sa kanila na yon. If ipagbibili nila or for their personal consumption, sa kanila na (The NIA will buy their harvest. What the NIA is asking for is five metric tons and six metric tons or 100 sacks of rice. If they have more than that, it’s theirs. If they sell it or for their consumption, it’s up to them). The excess production shall be at the free disposal of the IA members,” she said.

The NIA has allocated PHP77 million for the contract farming program, which will begin in May. (PNA)