RICE and corn farmers in Negros Island Region (NIR) will also benefit from the fertilizer loan program of the Department of Agriculture (DA) positioned to complement other initiatives to boost production.
The DA, through the Planter Products Inc. (PPI), has unveiled the program dubbed “Abono sa Uma (Fertilizer for the Farm)” in M’lang, North Cotabato as pilot area on Thursday, June 1.
PPI, a private corporation whose majority stocks is now owned by Filipino farmers and was sequestered by government, is placed under the administrative control of the DA.
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol, in his Facebook page, said the launching activity marks the start of a nationwide fertilizer loaning program that would allow rice and corn farmers to avail six to 10 bags of fertilizers payable after harvest.
Piñol said the national average yield for rice is 4.15 metric tons per hectare per harvest, and four metric tons for corn.
Under the Masaganang Ani 200, he said the rice program aims to increase the average per hectare yield to 200 cavans or 10 metric tons for irrigated areas. The corn program, meanwhile, aims to increase the per hectare yield to eight metric tons.
“PPI would determine the payment rate of the farmers and the improvement of their produce. It has designated the One Network Bank to receive the payments,” Piñol said, adding that “if proven successful, the loaning program will expand nationwide during the next planting season.”
For her part, DA-NIR Regional Director Joyce Wendam on Sunday, June 4, said the program is seen to impact positively farmers in the region as it complements other loan initiatives of the government.
The DA had earlier started its Survival and Recovery Loan Program and is currently providing P10,000 grant and P20,000 loan to calamity-affected farmers in the country, including Negros.
It is also set to launch its Production Loan Easy Access program this month, which will provide each farming and fishing household P10,000 to P50,000 worth of loan.
Wendam said these programs are all designed to equip farmers improve their respective productions and contribute to boosting the country’s agricultural productivity.
“Each rice and corn recipient-farmer in the region may receive up to P10,000 worth of fertilizer per hectare most probably starting November,” Wendam said, adding that loan programs will hugely contribute to sustain production growth during the first quarter of the year.
Data obtained by DA-NIR from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed that the region’s rice production has posted an increase of 32 percent in the first three months.
From 70,386 metric tons during the first quarter of 2016, it went up to 92,623 metric tons in the same period this year.
In terms of corn, data further showed that the NIR has a total production of 35,815 metric tons from January to March 2017, with an increase of 14.75 percent from only 31,211 metric tons last year.
