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| Agriculture Sec. Procy Alcala speaks to Ilocos Norte farmers in his recent visit to the province. (Lei Adriano photo) |
By Leilanie G. Adriano
Staff Reporter
LAOAG CITY—The Dept. of
Agriculture is giving out crop insurance coverage to encourage farmers to
invest in hybrid rice seeds.
The insurance coverage, which
has a maximum of P10,000 per hectare, is a bid to entice farmers to switch to
hybrid rice seed which the DA sees as step towards the country’s food sufficiency.
DA Region I executive director
Valentino Perdido said around 20,000 hectares planted with hybrid rice seeds
covering the entire region are now insured this planting calendar.
According to Mr. Perdido, all
farmers in the region who may want to plant hybrid rice seeds can avail of crop
insurance to enable the rice sector to recover from production losses due to
previous typhoons that hit this northern part of Luzon.
Agriculture officials, led by
Secretary Proceso Alcala, visited Ilocos Norte recently to encourage more
farmers to plant hybrid rice despite the higher investment it entails because “it
is worth it”.
Hybrid rice seeds can yield
as much as seven to eight metric tons (MT) per hectare compared to inbred
varieties which only yield between four to five MT per hectares. High yielding
varieties are grown by both private and state entities.
Because of the high cost of
hybrid seeds and farm inputs, the DA with counterpart funding from local
government units is giving out soil ameliorants, hybrid seeds and fertilizer
subsidy to farmers in Ilocos Norte. Some farmers however prefer to use inbred
varieties because it is cheaper and it requires lesser irrigation.
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