The local government of Supiden, La Union has distributed free certified inbred seeds from the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) to 17 remote villages.
Zeny Corpuz, municipal agriculturist, said that they brought the seeds to the farmers to help them further save on resources going to the municipal hall to receive the rice seeds.
“Farmers in these areas pay expensive fares to reach the town. We decided to help them all way,” Corpuz shared.
Corpuz reported that 2,450 bags of certified inbred seeds were distributed to the farmers. She shared that farmers prefer NSIC Rc 480 as they have already tried it in the previous cropping season, which increased their harvest by up to 10%.
Eufresenio Mortel, president of the Ipet Farmers Association, said they used the tractors given by the town’s local government (LGU) of Sudipen in transporting the seeds to the barangays. Some farmer-beneficiaries also helped in facilitating the transport.
“I am very grateful for RCEF-Seed Program and DA-PhilRice Batac. With these, we can now produce high-quality inbred rice,” Mortel said.
The RCEF Seed Program is a component of Republic Act 11203 or Rice Tariffication Law, which allots P10 billion funds every year for the rice farmers from the rice tariff earnings of the country. The program is a six-year government initiative to help farmers compete in the international rice market. The local government units and lawmakers assist in its implementation.
DA-PhilRice leads the RCEF-Seed Program and is the government’s lead agency on rice research and development mandated to help ensure a rice-secure Philippines.
