Farmers here have availed of free agricultural inputs as part of the implementation of the Department of Agriculture’s Rice Resiliency Project (RRP) under the “Plant, Plant, Plant” Program.

The DA, in partnership with the city government, has been distributing inbred and hybrid rice seeds with fertilizers to farmers registered in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA).

This is on top of the existing Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) and the support for inbred and hybrid farmers under the National Rice Program (NRP).

Mayor Cristy Angeles said the distribution of free agricultural inputs to farmers is part of government efforts to boost the farmers’ productivity.

“Sa pamamagitan ng programang ito, matutulungan nating makabawi at maiangat ang produksyon at kita ng ating qualified city farmers na lubos na naapektuhan ng Rice Tariffication Law kasunod ng pagpasok ng Covid-19 pandemic (Through this program, we could help regain and boost the production and income of our qualified city farmers who were adversely affected by the Rice Tariffication Law and the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic),” Angeles said in a statement on Tuesday afternoon.

The city has 7,769 farmers.

Some 7,066 bags of certified seeds and 588 bags of hybrid seeds have so far been distributed.

Meanwhile, out of the 17,916 bags of fertilizer allocated for this city, some 14,995 have been delivered.

Of the total deliveries, on the other hand, some 5,711 bags of fertilizers have been distributed to 2,854 farmers.

“With these agricultural inputs, our farmers are now assured that they have free seeds and fertilizers to use,” Angeles said.

Last July 16, Agriculture Secretary William Dar led the distribution of seeds and fertilizers to farmer-beneficiaries in this province.

Dar challenged the recipients to increase their yield of rice production from 3.5 metric tons to 7 metric tons per hectare.

Under the RRP, the DA aims to produce an increment of more than 1.03 million metric tons (MMT) of rice, in addition to this year’s projected yield of 12.76 MMT.

He said he expected a total yield of 13.79 MMT of rice, bringing up adequacy levels from 87 percent to 94 percent. (PNA)