An official of the local agriculture office here on Thursday said it is very realistic for areas with rice farms to sell the staple food at PHP20 per kg., especially during harvest season.
Being the first town in Samar to implement the government’s Benteng Bigas Meron (BBM) Na program, Jesus Jabines, municipal agriculture officer, said they are willing to share the good practice with other towns in the province and even outside the region.
“With the assistance given to our farmers, such as free seeds and fertilizer, it would be easy to ask them to give back by selling rice at PHP20 per kg. In our town, each farmer who received a sack of free fertilizer, we ask them to sell a sack of their produce to poor families,” he told the Philippine News Agency.
Each bag of fertilizer costs PHP2,000, while a bag of rice seeds costs nearly PHP1,000. Some farmers get more than one bag of fertilizer and seeds. They also get incentives for production from the Office of the Mayor.
This is the fourth week that the local government has been selling affordable rice to indigent families, the elderly, and persons with disabilities in partnership with around 3,000 local farmers through the Kadiwa ng Pangulo store outside the municipal hall and in village halls.
“Those who sell rice to us get a free rice-drying net. They are also prioritized in the distribution of free seeds and fertilizers in the next cropping. This inspires them to participate in the program every harvest,” Jabines added.
Basey, a town with 4,400 hectares devoted to rice farming, is 46 kilometers away from Tacloban City, the regional capital of Eastern Visayas.
Alde Carbonida, 62, of Barangay Buscada, is grateful that the PHP20 per kg. rice is available for poor families in their town. He only earns PHP200 daily from driving a pedicab.
His family of five consumes two kilos of rice daily.
“Before the rollout of this PHP20 per kilo rice, our budget only allowed us to buy salted or dried fish for a side dish. Now, we can afford to buy meat and vegetables,” Carbonida added. (PNA)
