SAN JOSE, Antique – The Office of the Provincial Agriculture (OPA) will provide replanting materials or seedlings to farmers in two municipalities here, which reported damage to their rice crops due to the southwest monsoon induced flooding.
OPA chief Nicolasito Calawag on Monday said that 1,200 bags of seedlings are available as assistance to farmers.
“We have enough buffer stock from the Department of Agriculture (DA)-Western Visayas to be given to farmers,” he added.
Meanwhile, OPA Natural Calamity focal person Serafin Yanga reported that damage to crops in the towns of Tobias Fornier and Valderrama reached P163,680 as of Monday.
“The town of Tobias Fornier had reported damage in the amount of P55,680 while the town of Valderrama has P108,000,” he stated. “The damage to crops was incurred due to the flooding of the rice fields.”
A total of 4.8 hectares of planted palay “in vegetative stage” in Tobias Fornier and 4.5 hectares of crops in Valderrama “in their reproductive to the seedling stage” were damaged.
OPA will provide a cavan of seedlings to every hectare of damaged rice fields, particularly those badly affected.
“The DA Regional Office 6 had already given us the approval to use the buffer stock as replanting materials. Hopefully, it could be delivered to the farmers within this week,” Yanga said.
Other municipalities, including Sibalom, dubbed the “rice bowl of Antique,” have yet to file their crop damage report.(PNA)