Siquijor RRP II hybrid rice ready for harvest, inbred seeds for distribution
Some 108 hectares of rice fields planted with hybrid rice under the Department of Agriculture's (DA) Rice Resiliency Project II (RRP2) are ready for harvest by the end of March or within April, this year.
This was bared by DA-7 Agricultural Program Coordinating Officer (APCO) of Siquijor Gregolito Bunado.
Bunado said that 328 rice farmers received 108 bags of hybrid rice last year under the RRP II which they planted for this dry season cropping.
Bunado explained that Siquijor is not a rice producing province, however there are still rice farmers who are into rice production.
Of the 108 bags of hybrid rice, forty bags were distributed to Lazi, 33 bags to Maria, 15 bags to Siquijor, 10 bags to Larena, 7 bags to San Juan, and 3 bags to Enrique Villanueva, which were facilitated by their respective Municipal Agriculture Offices (MAO).
"As for the hybrid rice, we will be expecting harvest by the end of March to April. We will be doing crop cutting to get their estimated yield," Bunado said.
These farmers also received some biological control (biocon) agents to include 5,500 cards of trichogramma and 58.5 kilos of Beauveria to help them effectively manage and control pests in their rice fields.
Aside from RRP II, Bunado also said that under the DA7's regular rice program, some 98 bags of registered rice seeds were already distributed to 111 rice farmers ready for this wet season cropping to start in April or May.
He also said that 250 bags of hybrid seeds are ready for distribution with municipal allocation of 100 bags for Lazi, 80 bags for Maria, 35 bags for Siquijor, 17 bags for Larena, 10 bags for San Juan, and eight for Enrique Villanueva.
Bunado further said that the fertilizers allocated for the RRP II are to be distributed to the identified farmer-beneficiaries thru the e-voucher scheme.