BONTOC, Mountain Province – Farmers in this capital town recently received various farm inputs from the Department of Agriculture – Cordillera Administrative Region (DA-CAR) on May 10, 2023, at the Bontoc Municipal Capitol.
The DA-CAR delegated to the Bontoc Local Government Unit (LGU) through the Office of the Municipal Agriculturist (OMAg) the distribution of free bags of fertilizers, bags of palay seeds, and roll pipes intended for beneficiaries.
According to Municipal Government Assistant Department Head Catherine Agcon of the OMAg, 40 farmers received free bags of fertilizers as assistance from the government. The recipients had reported damages to their crops during the onslaught of Typhoon Paeng in 2021.
Also, 12 farmers received one roll pipe each as intervention assistance from the DA-CAR.
Aside from these, 60 bags of palay seeds were distributed to 31 rice farmers who are enrolled in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA). The farmer-recipients are those who have registered 1,000 square meters and more of their farmland in the RSBSA.
The farmer-beneficiaries are from Barangays Gonogon, Samoki, and Balili. The varieties provided to them are the in-bred rice seeds including Rc218 and R18 that are intended for wet season planting.
Agcon added that this intervention is part of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) or Rice Fund of the DA aimed to improve farmers’ competitiveness in the face of rice trade policy liberalization.
In his message, Bontoc Mayor Jerome “Chagsen” Tudlong, Jr., thanked the DA for its continuous assistance to the farmers.
He mentioned that with the increasing prices of commodities; seeds, fertilizers, and other farm inputs are no exception and the farm inputs given to the farmers are of great help to them.
“Farming is the main source of living for the people in Bontoc and we are grateful to the national government through the DA- CAR under the leadership of Regional Executive Director Dr. Cameron P. Odsey for their continuing assistance to the farmers”, the mayor added.
Tudlong remarked that ensuring rice sufficiency at the same time uplifting the lives of the farmers in the locality is one of his flagship programs under Economic Empowerment. This is one of the four pillars of his administration’s roadmap – “Enlangakha: Achieving the Vision for a Dynamic Bontoc”.
Likewise, he assured the recipients that the Bontoc LGU will continuously coordinate with the national government, particularly the DA, for continued support to the marginalized farmers.
With this, the mayor encouraged farmers and farmworkers to enroll in the RSBSA for them to avail of future interventions from the government.
Registration in the RSBSA is free and interested farmers may visit the OMAg located on the 4th Floor of the Bontoc Municipal Capitol for further inquiries.
Meanwhile, to ensure the sustainability of the program, the OMAg in partnership with the Provincial Government of Mountain Province through the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist shall conduct monitoring.
