IPIL, Zamboanga Sibugay — Two hundred eighty-one farmers have availed of the rice production assistance program as the provincial government has strengthened the campaign on organic farming method to pursue sustainable agriculture system here.
“Rice is the most important crop that the government needs to implement effective programs of increasing the food production,” Gov. Wilter Yap Palma on Wednesday said.
Palma has increased the budget this year to PHP15 million from last year’s P10 million of the provincial government’s rice production program dubbed as Agricultural Support to Farmers on Rice Production (ASFRP).
ASFRP is a lending rogram of the provincial government for the rice farmers, which is implemented through provincial agriculture’s office.
Under the program, each rice farmer can borrow as much as PHP20,000 with zero interest.
Dianne Palanas, provincial focal person on ASFRP, said the rice farmers who can avail of the program are with rice field in irrigated areas and are into organic farming method.
Palanas said the ASFRP recipients were farmers from the municipalities of Buug, Diplahan, R. T. Lim and Titay covering 281 hectares in irrigated rice-land.
“We started at P400,000 in 2013 but this year, because of Gov. Palma’s commitment, he increased the allocation to P15 million,” Palanas said.
Data from the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) showed this province is the second largest rice producer next to Zamboanga del Sur here in the region.
Records from the Provincial Planning and Development Office also revealed that around 3,149.57 square kilometer of agricultural land is for development in this province.
Palma said rice is the most fundamental food source in this province, which means, “we are traditionally dependent on agriculture.”
He is very hopeful that the sustainability in farming is attributed to the strong commitment of the farmers and that rice production is the most important economic activity. (PNA)
