Negros Occidental province has recorded higher rice yield through the use of certified seeds as part of its initiatives to ensure food security among the Negrenses. Data from the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) as of Tuesday showed that production increased to an average yield of 97.92 cavans per hectare, from only 89.02 cavans in the past year. Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said to close the supply-and-demand gap, the provincial government promoted farm-level productivity interventions through the Dagyaw Project. ‘Even though we started this project in September of last year only, rice production has increased significantly,’ he added. In 2022, the province’s supervised seed growers produced 199,590 bags of certified rice seeds valued at PHP300 million while this year, 77,825 bags have already been produced worth PHP121 million. For the past year, a total of 130,690 hectares of rice land were planted to rice in Negros Occidental, with 121,378 hectares harvested and production of 465,665 metric tons (MT) at an average yield of 3.84 MT per hectare. Currently, the provincial government is equipped with complete farm mechanization facilities to mechanize a total of 12,540 hectares of rice land. Some 200 job order workers have been deployed to facilitate the Dagyaw Project implementation. ‘Our farm mechanization resulted in lower costs of preparation, transplanting, and harvesting services,’ Lacson said, adding that this led Negros Occidental to attain a rice self-sufficiency level of 84 percent. ‘Even with the limitations caused by climate change, the average yield for irrigated rice increased in this cropping period. With this trend, we are assured of food security until the end of the year,’ he said. The governor said to ensure food security and agricultural productivity, the province maximizes production in irrigated areas for farmers to be more confident in their production despite the threat of El Niño. ‘This project will promote not just efficiency and sufficiency, but most of all, resiliency,’ he added.
Source: Philippines News Agency
