During his weekend visit to various towns in Bulacan, Alcala noted that Nueva Ecija, dubbed as the country’s rice granary, remained top rice producer with 1.5 million metric tons rice harvest.
Alcala noted that Bulacan ranked among the nine top rice producers in the country, contributing 351,437 metric tons harvested from 79,297 hectares of rice lands in the province.
He said that the US Department of Agriculture has hailed the Aquino administrations’ contribution to effective food security program in the region.
This, even as Alcala assured farmers all over the country of various assistance to help them cope with the effects of dry spell expected to be wrought by El Niño.
The government has put in place enough measures to ensure that the country would not run short of supply of food, he said.
He said PhilRice has already distributed to farmers hybrid seeds which are known to be resistant to drought. Farmers are also being encouraged to simultaneously plant high value commercial crops alongside their rice plantations, he added.
“Vegetables need less watering than palay so planting them is feasible,” he also said.
