Sultan Naga Dimaporo, Lanao del Norte, March 5 – To mark the first year anniversary of the Rice Tarification Law or RA 11203, around 650 rice farmers received certified inbred seeds under the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) following the liberalization of the rice industry in the country.

Through the DA-PhilRice, farmers of said town benefitted the 1, 400 bags of certified inbred rice seeds, which will be planted on its 700 hectare- irrigated rice area.

Department of Agriculture-Regional Field Office 10 OIC Regional Executive Director Carlene C. Collado has been emphasizing that said program is an intervention to help farmers increase yield and reduce cost amidst the implementation of the Rice Tariffication Law.

Qualified farmers listed in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA), each received a maximum of four bags at 20 kilograms per bag, depending on farm size, from 0.5 to 2 hectares.

In the said town, the NSIC Rc 222 rice variety was distributed which has an average yield of 6.1 tons and a maximum of 10 tons per hectare, according to PhilRice.

Aside from being a high yielding variety, it is resistant to pest and diseases and adapted to multi-stress. It has heavier grain than other rice varieties and performing well in different rice environments such as rain-fed, submerged and saline.

“Hindi ko inakala may tulong ang gobyerno kung saan hindi na kami bibili ng binhi. Ito’y isang malaking tulong sa aming mga magsasaka,” said Sambitore O. Sarip of barangay Payong of said town who availed the seed distribution.

Sultan Naga Dimaparo is the 4th rice producing municipality of Lanao del Norte with 2,000 hectare lowland rice area.

DA-PhilRice is set to distribute certified inbred rice seeds of the said town for the 1,100 rainfed farmer beneficiaries by April of this year.

The law provides for financial assistance for rice farmers to be sourced from the tariff collection of the P10 billion RCEF. Around P5 billion has been allocated for distribution of inbred seeds thru DA-PhilRice.#(ATCabig)