Pangasinan bags second Agri-Pinoy Rice Achiever Award By April Montes DAGUPAN CITY, March 20 (PIA) –Pangasinan received its second Agri-Pinoy Rice Achiever Award from the Department of Agriculture (DA) as one of the country’s top rice-producing provinces in 2013. Pangasinan and other top rice-producing provinces, municipalities and cities, farmers and irrigators’ associations, and agricultural workers were honored in appropriate ceremonies at the Resorts World Manila last March 14. Other provinces declared as the country’s top rice achievers were Nueva Ecija, North Cotabato, Nueva Vizcaya, Isabela, Ilocos Norte, Bukidnon, Bulacan, Kalinga, Mindoro Occidental, Laguna and Lanao del Norte. These provinces surpassed their “palay” production targets, attained higher average yield, encouraged more farmers to use quality seeds and appropriate technologies, and prioritized rice-related projects which made them as lead rice-producers last year. Ten agriculture personnel from the province also received awards as outstanding agricultural extension workers (AEWs). Awardees include Nestor Batalla, Rita Prieto, Irene Estrada, Margarita Nano, Teresita Naoe, Ronna Frianeza, Eleuterio Saoi, Jr., Madelyn Valenzuela, Danilo Villamil and Provincial Agriculturist Dalisay Moya. Moya said the province intends to use the prize incentive for the construction and establishment of a provincial soils laboratory at the Sta. Barbara Provincial Nursery in Barangay Tebag East. She said the laboratory will serve 65 percent of the province’s total agricultural area. The DA’s National Rice Program released over P110 million in prizes to 12 provinces, 48 municipalities and cities, 10 irrigators’ associations (IAs), three small water impounding system farmers’ associations (SWISAs), and 496 AEWs. Each of the provinces’ governors received a trophy and check worth P4 million for rice-related projects, which were handed over personally by Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala, and National Rice Program Coordinator and acting Undersecretary for Field Operations Dante Delima. The top municipalities and cities, including the exceptional IAs received P1-million worth of project grants. Outstanding SWISAs got P500,000 each in project grants, while the leading AEWs took home a cash incentive of P20,000 each. In a statement, Alcala said the annual contest, now on its third year, is the government’s way of thanking the country’s rice farmers and their respective provincial and municipal officials and farm workers for their continuing efforts and contributions to increased rice production. “The Agri-Pinoy Rice Achievers’ awards is part of DA’s interventions and incentive system to encourage local government units, IAs, SWISAs and AEWs to contribute in increasing farmers’ harvest and incomes, to attain national rice sufficiency,” Alcala said. The top provinces, cities and municipalities were chosen based on the following criteria: incremental increases in rice harvest and average yield per hectare over 2012 levels; increases over their 2012 targets; amount of budget devoted to rice projects and initiatives; number of farmers benefited; and degree of quality seed utilization, among others. (MCA/AMM/PIA-1, Pangasinan/DA)
Posted on: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 02:58:23 +0000
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