Article by:
Anna Leah Gonzales
MANILA — The Department of Agriculture (DA) Regional Field Office 9 will provide fertilizer assistance to rice farmers in Zamboanga Peninsula.
The DA program shall cover fertilizer assistance under the Production Support Services starting 2023 wet season and 2023-2024 dry season in rice-producing cities and municipalities in Zamboanga Peninsula, according to the order released Friday.
"In order to facilitate the necessary preparations, the Rice Program will base the number of bags to be distributed on the submitted liquidation lists from the Office of the City/municipal agriculturist," DA regional executive director Dennis Arpia said in a statement over the weekend.
Due to budget constraints, the first priority are farmers who have received hybrid rice seeds from the DA-9 rice program.
Next on the list are farmers who have received certified rice seeds in irrigated areas and farmers who received certified rice seeds in favorable rainfed areas.
Farmers registered under the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture and encoded in the Farmers and Fisherfolk Registry System shall be eligible to receive the support.
To claim the assistance, farmer-beneficiaries must personally bring their valid government proof of identification (ID).
If a farmer-beneficiary has health issues or disabilities, is pregnant, or an elderly; is deprived of liberty; is working overseas or in other parts of the country; and has other reasons as may be approved by the head of the National Rice Program and can't personally appear, authorized representatives shall be allowed to claim the fertilizers provided that ID cards of both claimant and and an authorization letter will be submitted.
Farmers’ cooperatives and associations will also be allowed to claim the fertilizer of their members if they have a duly signed resolution nominating the authorized representativeband the list of member beneficiaries.
"The DA recognizes the importance of fertilizer application in order to fully maximize the yield potential of a crop or plant. The fertilizer distribution has been one of the activities supported in recent years by the National Rice Program to aid farmers in increasing farm productivity and income," Arpia said. (PNA)
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