Asturias farmers to get food packs

The Cebu Provincial Government will implement a food-forwork program for farmers in two barangays in Asturias who are dealing with Rice Tungro Disease (RTD).

The Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) said that 110 farmers in Barangays Bago and Lunas will receive food packs in exchange for clearing their farmlands that RTD had infested.

Wilson Ramos of PDRRMO also said that the affected farmers will receive five kilos of rice and canned goods that will last them for three days.

More than 71 hectares of rice fields in the two villages will have to be cleared after these were affected by RTD.

Ramos said the Province will send a tractor to Asturias to help farmers in the clearing operation.

Roldan Saragena, provincial agriculturist, earlier said that the RTD occurred in the two barangays because some kept on planting rice in affected fields.

Saragena advised the farmers to clear the affected areas and plant legumes to cut off the disease’s life cycle and to help rejuvenate the land for future replanting.

The Asturias Municipal Government has since declared a state of calamity in the two barangays so calamity funds can be released to help the affected farmers.

RTD is transmitted plant-toplant by the green leafhopper.