BACOLOD CITY — The Department of Agriculture (DA) 6 (Western Visayas) will provide PHP6- million worth of certified rice seeds to farmers in Negros Occidental this month.
Japhet Masculino, head of the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA), said on Tuesday stocks are expected to arrive this week and will be distributed for free starting next month in time for the second and third cropping seasons.
Negros Occidental will receive 38,832 bags of additional certified rice seeds, the largest volume of rice seeds allocated by the DA to the province this year.
“Good quality rice seeds will be distributed to farmers in the province for free, provided they are on the master list of their respective city and municipal agriculture offices,” Masculino said.
Three drop-off points in the cities of Bacolod, Cadiz and Kabankalan will be established for distribution, he added.
“These additional stocks will come from Luzon. We have already distributed the initial batches of buffer stocks, including hybrid and certified rice seeds,” Masculino said.
The distribution of seeds addresses rice supply deficiency in the country, including Negros Occidental, which had a rice self-sufficiency level of 94 percent in 2017.
A bag of certified rice seeds, which costs PHP1,626, will result in a in a production increase of at least 10 bags per hectare.
With a ratio of one hectare per bag, the additional certified rice seeds will cover almost 39,000 hectares of rice fields in Negros Occidental. (Erwin Nicavera/PNA)
