150 Pampanga farmers get free certified rice seeds from gov’t

The 40-kilogram certified rice seeds distributed to 150 farmers. (Photo from the City of San Fernando Information Office)

ANGELES CITY, Pampanga – The government of Pampanga’s capital city of San Fernando distributed on Tuesday (May 18) certified rice seeds and fertilizers to some 150 farmers in the city as part of the local government’s food security program.

In a statement, City Agriculture and Veterinary Office head Francisco Cangco said the beneficiaries were from low-lying villages to help them “prepare for the planting activities for the forthcoming wet season.”

The distribution of the RC-534 rice seed variety was held at the Organic Trading Post in the capital city’s New Public Market in Barangay Del Pilar in line with the celebration of Pyestang Fernandino and Fernandino Farmers’ Week.

The International Rice Research Institute described the RC-534 rice seed as “aromatic, saline, and drought-tolerant variety” released in 2018 for saline prone areas with an average yield between 3.2 tons and 4.4 tons per hectare.

The farmer-beneficiaries, each of them receiving two 40-kilogram sacks of certified rice seeds, were from the villages of Bulaon, Calulut, Del Carmen, Malpitic, Quebiawan, San Juan, and Sindalan.

Citing agricultural calendar, Cangco said the wet season originally falls from mid-March to mid-September but due to climate change, the planting activities for this season would be from May to June.

The San Fernando City Information Office quoted Sanduguan Farmers’ Association board member Amando Fernando Jr as saying that the free certified seeds will help the farmers financially.

JPV