SUPPORT FOR FARMERS. Cantilan, Surigao del Sur Mayor Maria Carla Pichay leads the opening of the first Funders’ Forum on Tuesday (Oct. 15, 2019) that would enable farmers’ groups to connect to national agencies of the government. The local government has also allotted funds to subsidize the seeds and fertilizer needs of farmers. (Photo courtesy of Municipality of Cantilan Facebook Page)
BUTUAN CITY – Farmers in Cantilan town in Surigao del Sur continue to receive seeds and fertilizer subsidies from the local government to improve their agricultural productivity and increase their income.
Cantilan Agriculture Office chief Cesar Blanco said that the local government unit (LGU) has appropriated PHP4.3 million for seeds subsidy and PHP3.5 million for fertilizer subsidy this year.
“A farmer buys two sacks of seeds; he only pays for one sack. The LGU will pay for the other sack. It’s the same when a farm buys fertilizer,” Blanco told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) on Thursday.
The program for the development of the agriculture sector in Cantilan is among the priorities of Mayor Maria Carla Pichay, he added.
Farmers who belong to associations and cooperatives are the priority for the subsidy program that has provided the much-needed support, especially during planting season, Blanco said.
Rice farming tops the agriculture sector in Cantilan, with 1,280 hectares of rice fields classified as irrigated and about 900 hectares as rain-fed.
Cantilan also produces coconut and abaca, Blanco said.
On Tuesday, Pichay launched the first Funders’ Forum in Cantilan that was attended by more than a thousand farmers from various barangays.
The forum aimed to connect farmers’ organizations and cooperatives to the government’s national line agencies.
Cantilan’s LGU also turned over to farmers’ groups eight units of various types of farm machinery this year, including water pumps, Blanco added.
The Rice Processing Center in Cantilan that was built in 2015 continues to serve the needs of the farmers in the area, he said.
The processing center houses two solar dryers, two mechanical dryers, a warehouse worth PHP2 million, a multi-pass rice mill, a corn mill, a rice harvester, and a hauling truck.
The facilities serve the farmers of Cantilan during harvest season, Blanco said.
Farmer leaders also expressed gratitude to the local government for the continued support they receive, particularly the seeds and fertilizer subsidies.
Farmer leader Alberto Ortega, chairman of the Municipal Agricultural and Fisheries Council (MAFC) in Cantilan, told PNA on the sidelines of the Funders’ Forum that the subsidies come at the same time as the increase in the prices of seeds and fertilizers in the market.
Ortega also bared that Pichay was planning to expand the abaca production in Cantilan, especially in the hinterlands and remote barangays.
Blanco said a total of 5,000 abaca seedlings were already distributed to farmers in barangays Lubo and Cabangahan.
The local government aims to distribute some 100,000 seedlings to upland farmers this year, he added. (PNA)
