The government has to date provided more than PHP 100 billion in assistance to rice farmers estimated at PHP 34 billion, and PHP 72 billion worth of savings for consumers due to lower rice retail prices.

Agriculture Secretary William Dar said since August 2019, the Duterte administration has provided rice farmers more than PHP 34 billion worth of assistance to rice farmers aimed at increasing their farm productivity and incomes, broken down as:

In an effort to reach as many farmers as possible, amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the Department of Agriculture (DA) will harness the power of radio into a unified distance learning program on modern rice agriculture, dubbed as “Makabagong Pagsasaka sa Himpapawid.”

On August 27, Agriculture Secretary William Dar received the “Manual of Operations of the School-on-the-Air on Smart Rice Agriculture (SOA-SRA),” that provides step-by-step process, concepts, strategies, and best practices in the conduct of educational radio programs.

Agriculture Secretary William Dar is encouraging local government units (LGUs) and concerned agencies to include chicken in subsidized food packs for distribution to their constituents and clienteles to ease supply glut and stabilize prices of said poultry product.

“The inclusion of fresh chicken in the relief goods would hike the demand and increase the farmgate prices of broilers,” Secretary Dar added.

To ensure an adequate supply of affordable food and provide farmers, fishers, and their families steady income, the Department of Agriculture (DA) will implement short-gestating farm and fishery projects that will help perk up the country’s economy.

“As we continue to confront the COVID-19 pandemic, we will vigorously implement emergency or short-gestating food production projects in partnership with farmers’ cooperatives and associations (FCAs), the private sector, and local government units (LGUs),” said Agriculture Secretary William Dar.

RICE farmers’ incomes and yields are rising as a result of programs supported by the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF), according to a survey conducted by the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice).

PhilRice surveyed more than 4,000 RCEF beneficiaries across 55 provinces who harvested an average of 4.14 metric tons (MT) per hectare.

Respondents reported an additional yield of 440 kilograms per hectare were realized after farmers used certified inbred seed distributed by PhilRice under the RCEF program.

For the past 20 years, farmer Teodolfo Gindap of Barbasa, Antique, has been using traditional rice seeds, giving him a measly harvest of 1,500 kilograms (kg) or roughly 30 cavans of palay, from a 7,500-square meter farm lot.

Last 2019-2020 dry season, he got a record harvest of 3.8 MT, more than double his previous yields in his two decades of farming, as he planted for the first time certified inbred rice seeds. He thus earned an additional income of P39,000 from his toil.