Agriculture Secretary William Dar (middle) listens to the issues and concerns of the farmers of La Paz. Photo courtesy of PIA-3
LA PAZ, Tarlac — The farmers in this municipality accepted the challenge of the Department of Agriculture to increase their production in order to receive machineries and other farm productivity facilities.
In a forum held at Barangay Caut, Agriculture Secretary William Dar challenged the farmers to produce more than their average production of 3.5 metric tons of rice to an average of 7 metric tons.
“We will provide common service facilities and machineries to the cooperative and on top of that, we will also provide warehouse and milling facilities for the hundred hectares, and maybe trucks for you to easily transport your produce in the market,” the cabinet official noted.
Dar also reminded the farmers that the production must be consistent all throughout the different seasons.
In behalf of the farmers, Teotimo Santiago said they can attain the target: “With an efficient water system, we, the farmers of La Paz can produce even up to 200 sacks of rice.”
For his part, Mayor Venus Jordan asked the secretary for the construction of water impounding system which will be of great help to the farmers in the municipality.
“La Paz is a basin, when the heavy water comes, we immediately experience flooding. We really need a water impounding system which will help reduce the flooding in our area and save our crops,” Jordan said. —Gabriela Liana Barela/PIA-3
