BACOLOD CITY -- For the second straight year, Bago City has been recognized as one of the top rice-producing local government units in the country during the 2018 Rice Achievers Awards.
Known as the rice bowl of Negros Occidental, Bago was among the 15 municipalities and cities awarded by the Department of Agriculture (DA) in a ceremony held at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City on Thursday.
The top rice-producing city of Western Visayas (Region 6) has a total 119,528.36 metric tons of palay production in 2018 from a harvested area of 11,879.29 hectares.
Mayor Nicholas Yulo was joined by city agriculturist Carlito Indencia and DA-6 regional executive director Remelyn Recoter in receiving the award, which included a trophy and a check worth PHP1 million, from Senator Cynthia Villar.
In a statement on Friday, Yulo attributed the award to the improving efficiency of rice farmers in Bago.
The southern Negros city’s average yield per hectare increased from 4.3 metric tons in 2017 to 4.45 metric tons in 2018.
Yulo also acknowledged the assistance of the DA and Negros Occidental’s provincial government in terms of rice seed subsidies, technology transfer, and farm machinery.
Last year, rice farmers in Bago received 19,571 bags of high-quality palay seeds, as well as seven units of shallow tube well and water pump engines, and 10 units of farm machinery and equipment from the DA and the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist.
The DA also distributed 80 bags of fertilizer to 22 farmers under the Rice Crop Manager and Philippine Rice Information System programs; established two rice model farms for inbred and hybrid rice; put up a biocontrol agent lab; and conducted farmers field schools and pest management training in Bago.
In December last year, the provincial government piloted the farm mechanization program in the city’s 200-hectare rice farm in Barangay Taloc.
Bago contributes about 20 percent to Negros Occidental’s total rice production.
Meanwhile, Recoter encouraged other rice-producing areas in Western Visayas to boost their yield.
“(The) DA is here to give interventions, such as production support, training and extension services, provision of small-scale irrigation projects, farm machinery and facilities,” she said. (PNA)