700 Farmers in Agusan del Norte Receive 1,000 Sacks of Certified Rice Seeds from PhilRice
Around 1,000 sacks of certified rice seeds worth PHP 760,000 were received by the Las Nieves local government unit from the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) and the Butuan Seed Producers Multi-Purpose Cooperative in Agusan del Norte.
The rice seed allocation is part of the implementation of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund of PhilRice and the Department of Agriculture (DA) 13 (Caraga Region).
About 700 farmers in Las Nieves are set to receive the rice seeds. All the 700 farmers are registered at the Farmer and Fisherfolk Registry System of the agriculture department.
Michael Mandahinog, a Las Nieves information officer, stated in an interview that the rice seeds would be delivered to the rain-fed rice areas, with nine barangays in particular.
“Providing support to rice farmers is among the priorities of the administration of Mayor Karen Rosales. Las Nieves is among the rice-producing towns in Agusan del Norte,” Mandahinog said.
According to Mandahinog, Las Nieves produced 10,344 metric tons of play in 2022.
The newly-certified seeds include varieties such as NSIC RC 160, RC 216, and RC 436. They are currently stored at the municipal warehouse and are ready for distribution by the Municipal Agriculture Office (MAO) to the beneficiaries.
“The MAO will post the schedules of the distributions to the covered barangays for the information of our farmers who will receive the certified rice seeds for free,” Mandahinog stated.
