THE Department of Agriculture on Wednesday said 46 out of the 57 target provinces have already received 341,203 bags at 20 kilos per bag of inbred rice seeds under the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) Seed Program.
Agriculture Secretary William Dar said the 46 provinces, which make up 81 percent of the accomplishment, include 282 municipalities and cities with high potential for competitiveness in rice production.
Among the rice seed varieties distributed include NSIC Rc 160, Rc 216, Rc 222, and two location-specific inbred varieties.
“The provinces have been identified based on the size of area harvested, yield level, cost of production, and share of irrigated area. These municipalities and cities have an annual area planted of more than 500 hectares for dry season 2019-2020,” said Dar in a statement, citing recent data released by the DA-Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice).
According to Dar, seed distribution is ongoing to cover the remaining 11 provinces, including 703 municipalities/cities.
He said the remaining 1,766,805 bags of seeds are scheduled for distribution this 2019-2020 dry season.
He said DA-PhilRice has already contracted out 97 percent of the seed requirement for this cropping period. “The 2 million bags of certified seeds will translate to planting around 1 million hectares of rice land which can contribute to increasing the yield up to 6 tons per hectare in high-yielding provinces by 2024,” Dar said.
Earlier, the DA forged a P432.78-million deal with the country’s top seed growers to kick-start the government’s seed-distribution program via the RCEF. The DA said it forged a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with five seed growers’ associations and cooperatives for the seed component of the RCEF. The deal accounts for 21.64 percent of the P3 billion allocated for the RCEF seed program.
Under the MOA, the seed growers will supply 25 percent, or about 500,000 bags, of the 2 million bags of inbred rice seeds to be distributed to farmer-beneficiaries of the program.
The seeds procured by the government from the seed producers will be distributed to rice farmers in 57 provinces identified to have high potential for competitiveness.
The eligible farmer-beneficiaries should be listed in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture. Each farmer could receive a maximum of four bags of inbred seeds, depending on farm size for the October to December planting season.
The creation of the RCEF was mandated by the rice trade liberalization law, which took effect on March 5. The P10-billion fund will bankroll various programs for improving the productivity of planters who will have to compete with cheaper imports in the aftermath of rice liberalization.
Image credits: CESAR M. PERANTE
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Bakit ganuon, December pa nagdaliver ng seeds ang mga taga-CALABARZON eh yung mga seeds na idiniliver simula December 11, 2019 hanggang January 31, 2020 ay hindi pa binabayaran ng Philrice hanggang ngayong March 18, 2020. Ang sabi ng Philrice sa mga seed growers basta pagkadeliver, isubmit agad ang delivery documents at immediately, ipaprocess agad ng Philrice upang mabayaran kaagad. Simula po ng middle ng January 2020 ay nagtatanong na sa Philrice ang mga seed growers kung kailan mababayaran kasi taniman na naman para sa dry season ay wala ng magastos ang mga seed growers. Ang sagot ay pinaprocess pa ang mga papers, tapos nagtuturuan ang Philrice Los Banos at Philrice Central office na ung daw kabilang panig ang in-charge. Subalit sabi ng Philrice LB, wala nga silang paipangbayad sa mga bagong hired na staff ng RCEFF, bakit nila iho-hold ng budget. Lugmok na po sa kahirapan ang mga sed growers, bakit hindi ninyo ibigay ang dapat ibigay sa kanila. Sa simula, plantsadong-plantsado ang programa at nahikayat nila ang mga seed growers na ibigay lahat ang binhi sa RCEF program dahil napakagandang ng programang ito. Nabasa din ng mga seed growers na ang budget sa RCEF ay worth P432.78M na galing sa P2B na allocated sa RCEF seed program. Last arch 17, 2020, nagtanong muli ang mga seed growers kay Mr. Greg Vecinal sa Philrice Central Office na wala pa daw pondo para sa pagbabayad ng binhi ang Philrice. Bakit ganuon, ang budget sa start ng 2019 rograma ay P432.78M pero saan napunta ang allocated ng amount. Bakit hindi mabayaran ang mga naghihirap na mga seed growers samantalang may allocated budget naman? Tapos ang nakalagay sa balita ay very successful ang program! Malaki ang role ng seed grower sa production at distribution ng quality certified seeds sa mga farmers. Kung tagumpay kayo sa RCEF program samantalang matagal ng hindi binabayaran ang mga seed growers, baka magising kayo ay nagwithdraw na ang mga lalong naghihirap na seed growers sa inyong napakagandang programa sa papel. AANHIN PA ANG KABAYO KUNG PATAY NA ANG KABAYO?