A total of 177 rice farmers of Hinigaran, Negros Occidental, received Quick Turn-Around or Early Planting Incentives worth P296,720 at rites held by Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson, Tuesday, May 18.
Quick Turn-Around is a program of the provincial government spearheaded by the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) intended to minimize the impact of food shortage during the height of the pandemic last year, a press release from the Capitol said.
To ensure food security and agricultural productivity in the province, the farmers were encouraged to plant rice during the months of April and May last year to make sure that enough crops will be harvested in the month of August, it said.
The beneficiaries of this project were the farmers who responded to the call of the province to engage in early planting to supply the expected demand for rice, it added.
Lacson said that farmers have a huge contribution to the economy, and that food is the most important and basic need of the people, especially with the present pandemic.
The distribution of incentives was held at the Hinigaran Covered Court, attended by Fifth District Board Member Rita Gatuslao, Hinigaran Mayor Jose Nadie Arceo and Vice Mayor Teresita Gabrido, SB Members, OPA staff led by Supervising Agriculturist, Dina Genzola, and Hinigaran Agriculture Office staff headed by Ral Trompeta.*