DA-7 starts distribution of seeds, fertilizers to farmers in Bohol

DA-7 started on Monday, Sept. 18, the roll out of its fertilizer discount voucher (FDV) in Tubigon, Bohol. | Photo from DA-7

MANDAUE CITY, Cebu — The Department of Agriculture in Central Visayas (DA-7) has already started the distribution of hybrid rice seeds and fertlizers to help farmers in Bohol province increase their harvests.

On Monday, September 18, 2023, DA-7 distributed fertilizer discount voucher (FDV) to 800 rice farmers in Tubigon town, who were duly registered in the Registry System for Basic Sector in Agriculture (RSBSA) and duly verified in the Farmers and Fisherfolk Registry System (FFRS), the agency said in an advisory.

READ: DA-7 taking steps to ease effects to agriculture of coming El Niño

According to the DA-7, qualified rice farmers “will receive a voucher each with an equivalent value based on the size or fraction of a hectare rice areas.”

“The FDV will augment the fertilizer requirement of the farmers in the targeted production areas,” it added.

Aumentado supervises the distribution of fertilizers to farmers in San Miguel town. | Contributed photo

Meanwhile, Bohol Governor Erico Aris Aumentado said in a separate advisory that an earlier distribution by DA-7 was already made for farmers in San Miguel town on Saturday, September 16, as part of the national government’s Masagana Rice Industry Development Program (MRIDP) which aims to achieve the highest level of rice sufficiency by 2028.

“Ang atong probinsya mao ang labing una nga nakapahigayon og FDV rollout sa tibuok Region VII sa atong 45 ka mga lungsod, wala’y labot ani ang Panglao, Dauis ug Tagbilaran City,” said Aumentado, who supervised the second day of the FDV roll out on Saturday.

(Our province is the first to implement the rollout of FDV in Region 7 in our 45 towns, that does not include Panglao, Dauis, and Tagbilaran City.)

READ: DA-7 distributes aid to farmer groups in Bohol

The governor said that the distribution of the seeds and fertilizers was made ahead of the start of the dry season cropping in October.

Aumentado, who is also the chairperson of the Regional Development Council in Central Visayas (RDC-7), said that the DA-7 allocated P153 million for the purpose for the entire Region 7.  Of the amount, P80 million was set aside for the seeds while P73 million was for the fertilizers.

In addition to DA-7’s allocation, Bohol province has set aside P30 million for seeds and another P30 million for fertilizers for its farmers to help them cushion the ill effects of the El Niño that is expected to hit the country during the last quarter of the year.

Aumentado said that so far, Bohol province had 30,793 rice farmers who were registered in the RSBSA and FFRS.

READ: Farmers missing in equation as gov’t aims for higher agri yields

In the last semester, the province produced 3.6 metric tons per hectare of rice fields which was more than the expected ratio of 2.73 metric tons per hectare.

“Padayon kita mag-ampo nga bisan tuod ingon ang PAGASA nga mabati ang El Niño sa ikaduhang semester, unta, dili kini makaapekto sa atong mga rice farmers ug sa ilang kaumahan,” the governor said.

(Let’s continue to pray that even if Pagasa said that we can feel the El Niño in the second semester, we hope that this will not affect the rice fields of our rice farmers.)