BACOLOD City – The provincial government will spend an additional P40 million to boost farm mechanization program in Negros Occidental.
“We will tap the Department of Agriculture (DA) for a P200 million counterpart scheme,” said Provincial Agriculturist Japhet Masculino on Thursday.
Under the proposed scheme to be presented to the DA secretary Emmanuel Piñol, the province will have a counterpart of 20 percent.
“If we have P40 million, the remaining 80 percent, P160 million, will come from the DA’s Rice Enhancement Program,” the OPA chief said.
The farm mechanization upgrade will be a measure to allay the adverse effects of the Rice Tariffication Law to farmers, added Masculino.
Last year, the province purchased P25 million worth of farm equipment but can only cover “minimal” rice production areas.
Masculino said the target is to fully mechanize the entire rice production areas of the province in three years.
Should the proposal be approved, the P200 million counterpart scheme can purchase 30 sets of machines, including tractors, harvesters and transplanters.
“With these additional machines, we can fully mechanize the entire Bago River Irrigation System area,” Masculino said. (With PNA/PN)
