Farmers in Dinagat Islands receive rice seeds for next planting season
By Renelle L. Escuadro
BUTUAN CITY – A total of 690 farmers in the Province of Dinagat Islands recently received sacks of rice seeds from the Department of Agriculture (DA) Caraga through the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) under the Seed Program of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF).
These farmers were registered in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA), and their rice seeds allocation was dependent on their farm size to accommodate the December to April planting season. Each sack contained 20 kilos of rice seeds.
Per record, the local government unit of Basilisa has 250 farmer-beneficiaries. LGU -Tubajon, on the other hand, has 440 recipients of the said program.
The Philippines, with its rich fertile soil, is ideal to plant and grow rice all year round. It is also possible to grow at least three crops in a year.
In the PhilRice data as of 2022, the Province of Dinagat Islands had a total of 3,069 hectares of land for rice production, comprising of 1,955 hectares with irrigation, while 1,115 hectares as non-irrigated areas. LGU - Libjo provided the largest share of the land tilled in the province.
Further, the province had an average palay production of 6,825 metric tons, with 2.22 MT yield per hectare, of which 4,536 MT came from irrigated areas and 2,289 from non-irrigated locations.
With stronger and stable support from the government to enhance rice production in the island province, certainly our local farmers look forward to more productive days. (RLE/PIA-PDI)
