The Department of Agriculture (DA) Region IV-CALABARZON’s implementation of the Rice Resiliency Project (RRP) under the Plant, Plant, Plant Program has taken another phase in its objective of achieving higher rice productivity this wet-cropping season. 

As of August 4, a total of 35,209 bags of quality seeds and 71,956 bags of fertilizers were given to 32,829 rice farmers across the region.

DA’s RRP has three components, namely the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF), Expanded Inbred Rice Production, and Expanded Hybrid Rice Production, which differ in seed and fertilizer allocation by province. 

The RCEF has already delivered seed bags allocated to 25,699 hectares of rice field, along with 40,206 bags of fertilizer, in Cavite, Laguna, and Quezon. In all these provinces, the project has already supported a total of 24,093 farmers.

Meanwhile, a total of 3,000 hectares of land, together with a total of 13,408 fertilizer bags, will benefit from the inbred seed allocated to non-RCEF provinces such as Batangas and Rizal under the Expanded Inbred Rice Production. Around 3,608 farmers, through their respective city and/or municipal agriculture offices, have already made the most of DA’s support.

At the other hand, DA’s RRP has allocated hybrid seed through its Expanded Hybrid Rice Production to a total of 7,373 hectares of area for those provinces which are suitable with hybrid rice seeds, accompanied by 18,342 bags of fertilizer. A total of 5,854 farmers benefited from the interventions.

DA CALABARZON’s main goal of this ongoing project is to achieve a more sustainable income for farmers, improve disaster preparedness and climate change resilience, and ensure access to safe and nutritious rice across the region. • (MAP, DA-RAFIS)