Ruperto Dollaga, supervising agriculturist, said the provincial government has long prepared for the lean months, stocking on palay through various food security programs, including the distribution of the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA) certified palay seeds for rainfed lowland areas. The distribution would last until October.
Under the GMA program, farmers may avail of 50 percent discount on the price of a 40 kilo/sack of certified seeds that were earlier set for distribution. Dollaga said the remaining half of the cost would be shouldered by the Department of Agriculture (DA) as part of its subsidy scheme.
Dollaga said at least 15,495 bags of certified palay seeds were allotted by DA for qualified farmers in the province.
Koronadal City would get 1,162 bags, Banga with 2,544, Surallah with 2,086, T'boli with 80, Lake Sebuwith 1,424, Sto. Nino with 1,800, Norala with 1,192, Tantangan with 5,005, Polomolok with 45, Tupi with 150 and Tampakan with seven.
Aside from the certified palay seeds, 720 hybrid corn seeds produced by Bioseed (9890) were availed by corn farmers for free. Farmers from Surallah received 84 bags; Sto. Nino, 22; Norala, 22; Lake Sebu, 130p; Tantangan, 40; Polomolok, 58; T'boli, 36; Tampakan, 130; Tupi, 58; and Koronadal City, 130. (Allen Estabillo / MindaNews)