SAMAL, Bataan — The Philippine Rice Institute (PhilRice) in Nueva Ecija on Monday distributed free certified palay seeds to farmers, a mover that will be replicated in the whole province and other 56 provinces in the country.
“Ito ay programa ng PhilRice under the Rice Competitive Enhancement Fund. Ito ay libreng ipinamimigay sa mga magsasaka, mga magtatanim ngayong dry season,” said Frederick Saludes, PhilRice regional coordinator.
He said that farmer benefi ciaries are entitled to a bag of free certified seeds of 40 kilograms for every hectare planted to rice this planting season and the next dry season.
The palay varieties handed out in Samal were RC-402, RC-216, and RC-222.
Mga 57 probinsiya sa bansa ang napiling bigyan ng libreng binhi na binubuo ng halos isang libong munisipyo,” Saludes said. Under the PhilRice program are 2 million hectares of ricelands tilled by 1.2 million farmers in 57 provinces.
He said that in the case of Samal, farmers were given only a bag of 40 kilograms seeds each regardless of the area of ricelands they cultivate per the decision of the municipal agriculture so that more farmers can avail themselves of the free seeds.
He said that only 756 hectares or 60 percent of the total ricelands in Samal were included in the program this planting season but he said that by next dry season, all rice lands in the town will become part of the project.
