DAVAO CITY- About 8,000 farmers in the two municipalities of Davao Oriental are benefiting from the implementation of Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Program (RCEP) of the Department of Agriculture (DA).

This came after the Provincial Agriculture’s Office (PAO) started its distribution of rice seedlings to farmers in Lupon and Governor Generoso in the said province.

In a statement, PAO head Rotchie Ravelo said all rice farmers in the province will be given inbred and hybrid rice seedlings to ensure food security in the country.

He said up to 7,500 bags of rice seedlings will be planted on about 7,000 hectares of rice land in the province that would greatly help elevate the level of production.

Ravelo said all Irrigators Associations and Cooperatives will be supplied with rice seedlings, as well as free fertilizers to ensure maximization of productivity and minimize production cost by 30 percent.

“We are aiming for our farmers to be more competitive. For this year, we will try to surpass our 2019 productivity, and reach the 6 metric tons per hectare production rate,” he said.

RCEP is under the Pagkain at Kita: Sustainable Agriculture Village Enterprise (SAVE) initiative of the national government to ensure food security.

The program also targets productivity, competency and profitability for the rice farmers.

Other municipalities in the province will also receive rice seeds and fertilizers from PAO in the coming days. Ruth Palo/News Fort