KABACAN, North Cotabato — Farmers are expected to boost productivity in this agricultural town and other parts of the province with the knapsack sprayers they received from the provincial government on Friday.
A total of 542 farmers, including nearly 300 from this town, received free knapsack sprayers from North Cotabato’s agriculture office in a ceremony held at the provincial capitol in Kidapawan City.
Acting provincial agriculturist Remedios Hernandez, together with Rogaya Acoy, provincial integrated pest management coordinator, led the distribution under the PHP2.5-million farmers’ knapsack assistance program.
Many of the rice farmers are from Kabacan, known as the rice granary of Region 12 (Soccsksargen).
Hernandez said the program aims to provide rice farmers with quality sprayers in fighting insects and pests that continue to threaten their productivity.
The knapsack sprayers, each of which costs about PHP2,000, were dispersed to rice-producing municipalities, among them Kabacan, Midsayap, M’lang, Tulunan, and Carmen.
Hernandez said the farmer-beneficiaries are expected to share the use of knapsack sprayers to “neighbor” palay farmers.
She noted that more knapsack sprayers would be distributed to other towns of North Cotabato in the coming months. (Edwin Fernandez/PNA)
