BONTOC, Mountain Province – A total of 521 rice farmers in this municipality received free bags of certified rice or palay seeds and fertilizers from the Cordillera office of the Department of Agriculture (DA-CAR) on March 9, 2021, at the Bontoc Municipal Capitol.
The DA-CAR delegated to the Bontoc v municipal government, through the Office of the Municipal Agriculturist (OMAg), the distribution of 584 bags of fertilizers and 175 bags of palay seeds intended to the beneficiaries.
Bontoc Mayor Franklin Odsey is grateful that Bontoc has been receiving numerous assistance from the national government, particularly from the Department of Agriculture.
“Farming is the main source of living of the people in Bontoc and we are grateful to the national government through the DA-CAR under the leadership of Regional Executive Director Cameron P. Odsey for their continuing assistance to the farmers,” the mayor remarked.
According to Catherine Agcon of the OMAg, the recipients are rice farmers who are enrolled in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA). The farmer-beneficiaries are from Barangays Alab Proper, Alab Oriente, Balili, Gonogon, Caneo, Talubin, and Tocucan. The said barangays are engaged in short-cropping season and the rice varieties provided to them are the NSIC Rc 160 and NSIC Rc 216 that are intended for dry cropping.
Agcon added that this intervention is part of the Rice Resiliency Project (RRP) of the DA aimed to boost rice production and increase the income of rice farmers in the municipality.
The RRP farmer-recipients received seeds according to the size of their farmland they have registered in the RSBSA.
Likewise, she encouraged farmers and farmworkers to enroll in the RSBSA for them to avail of future interventions from the DA. She added that the registration is free and interested farmers may visit the OMAg located on the 4th Floor, Bontoc Municipal Capitol for further inquiries. By Alpine L. Killa