BACOLOD City – Dubbed as the rice granary of Negros Occidental, Bago City was recognized by the Department of Agriculture (DA) as the top producer of rice in Western Visayas.
Bago City reaped its second recognition for rice farming in two consecutive years in the Rice Achievers Awards at the Philippine International Convention Center, Pasay City on May 30.
“Bago City takes pride in receiving the honor,” said Mayor Nicholas Yulo on Friday.
Yulo and city agriculturist Carlito Indencia received the trophy and P1-million check.
In 2018, Bago recorded a total of 119,528.36 metric tons of palay production from the 11,879.29 hectares of farm land. It was the only local government unit awardee from Region 6 this year.
Indencia said Bago was awarded for surpassing the national average yield for rice production.
Records of the City Agriculture Office showed Bago has produced 4.2 tons of rice per hectare in 2017, higher than the 4.01-metric-ton of DA’s minimum requirement.
Currently, Bago’s rice sufficiency level is at 235.67 percent.
Yulo attributed the significant increase in rice production to the implementation of various programs including interventions and support services provided by the city government to its farmers. (With a report from PNA/PN)
