DA to provide financing to improve productivity of Romblon rice farmers
THE Department of Agriculture (DA) said plans to help Romblon province meet at least three quarters of its rice requirement by financing measures to improve the farmers’ productivity.
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol noted that Romblon, with a population of about 250,000, buys rice from nearby Mindoro Island to fill in its demand for the staple grain.
“I saw the rice farms along the road and I immediately understood why the production is so low. The rice paddies were full of weeds and the farming system is very primitive. Judging by the growth of the standing crops, there was hardly any fertilization for the fields,” Mr. Piñol said in a social media post on Monday.
“When the farmers said they want to learn how to grow hybrid rice varieties, I committed to send rice experts from PhilRice and provide a loan fund of P50 million for their hybrid rice production program for 2018,” Mr. Piñol added.
The DA wants to achieve national rice self- sufficiency by 2020 by tapping some one million additional hectares to hybrid rice.
In addition to Romblon’s rice self-suff iciency problem, Mr. Piñol said the province is also facing challenges in developing its fisheries and aquaculture.
As such, the DA distributed fiberglass fishing boats and fishing equipment in Romblon to participants at an open forum in Odiongan last week. —