BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – Negros Occidental’s provincial administrator, Atty. Rayfrando Diaz, said the provincial government will hire 190 farmers from different farming organizations as part of efforts to strengthen its rice sufficiency program.
According to Diaz, the goal of the provincial government is to make Negros Occidental rice sufficient in two years’ time.
The farmers will be trained on seed growing, transplanting, expanding their rice farms, on how to produce certified seeds, and handling different farming equipment.
“They will be hired as job orders,” Diaz added.
Negros Occidental is strengthening its food security program due to the looming food crisis brought by the current war between Russia and Ukraine.
Both countries are the world’s top exporters of grains, especially wheat.
The crisis is also further being exacerbated by other countries imposing export restrictions on food products.
Currently, Bago City is the top rice producer in Negros Occidental supplying at least a third or around 27 to 30 percent of the province’s rice needs./PN
