Dumarao, Capiz farmers eye increased hybrid rice yield thru MASAGANA

Rice farmers of Brgy. Ongol Ilaya Farmers Association in Dumarao, Capiz, gear for higher production this wet season harvest with the interventions from the Department of Agriculture (DA) Western Visayas’ MASAGANA Program.

Farmer members gathered on October 16 for a field day celebrating the increased harvest for cultivating hybrid seeds for the first time this wet cropping. Through the MASAGANA 200 program, farmers received hybrid seeds and benefited from free biofertilizers, soil ameliorants, and fertilizer discount vouchers worth P3,400.00 per hectare.

Capiz Governor Fredenil Castro lauded the contributions of rice farmers in maximizing the interventions provided by the DA to secure positive yields in the rice sector.

Acting Provincial Agriculturist Raoul Perez attributed the early planting of farmers to the timely distribution of production inputs and provision of technical support by the DA MASAGANA Program.

“Despite challenges such as brown planthopper infestations and rice blasts, farmers in Capiz are now achieving notable yields. Our previous average yield was only three metric tons per hectare, but now we’re seeing yields between five to nine metric tons per hectare,” Perez stated.

Engr. Israel Barros, DA Western Visayas’ Agricultural Program Coordinating Officer for Capiz, awarded certificates to the Ongol Ilaya Farmers Association for a P2.6-million hauling truck and to the Tinaytayan Farmers Association for a P150,000 hand tractor to support their palay production.

Meanwhile, Acting Warehouse Supervisor Jeffrey Balbino of the National Food Authority (NFA) Capiz Branch encouraged local farmers to sell their palay to the NFA to support the government’s palay buffer stocking program. Farmers can sell clean and dry palay at P25.00 per kilogram and newly harvested palay at P20.00 per kilogram.###Texts by SMHToreno & Photos by VNOQuimpo and KDCCaldina/DA-RAFIS 6)