GUIMBA, Nueva Ecija—Filipino farmers, especially those growing hybrid rice, will be supported by the government, Department of Agriculture (DA) Undersecretary for Operations Ariel T. Cayanan said on Friday during the annual grand harvest festival in Barangay Triala in this municipality.
He was joined by Dr. Henry Lim Bon Liong, SL Agritech Corp. chairman and CEO; Roy Abaya, Department of Agriculture director in Central Luzon; Mayor Jose Dizon; Serafin Santos, provincial agriculturist of Nueva Ecija; and Joselito Abesamin, the municipal agriculturist.
Cayanan said the DA has asked President Duterte and Congress for a substantial budget in order to support its hybrid-rice program. He assured farmers of government support.
“The only way for us to race to the finish is for us to use hybrid-rice seeds,” Cayanan said.
He said the DA sees within the next three years, specifically by 2018—“we will be approaching sufficiency and by 2019, we will be sufficient, and with the same length of time, we see a yield at least six metric tons per hectare of rice.”
Cayanan said the department devises programs, such as free irrigation, to help farmers increase their rice yield.
He added all farmers will have access to credit, including through the agricultural credit and policy council. He said all farmers included in the farmers’ listing will be qualified to access this loan system, with P25,000 being the minimum amount and a reasonable pay period .
Cayanan cited SL Agritech Corp. for collaborating with the local government unit here and supporting the government program by sharing with farmers the benefits of hybrid-rice technology to help attain the country’s rice self-sufficiency status.