ILALATAG ng Department of Agriculture (DA) ang P30-billion fertilizer program simula ngayong taon alinsunod sa direktiba ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte na pagkalooban ang mga magsasaka ng planting material upang mapalakas ang kanilang produksiyon.
Ayon kay Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol, nangako si Pangulong Duterte na magbibigay ng kinakailangang pondo para sa National Fertilizer Support Program (NFSP) ng DA.
Ani Piñol, inatasan siya ng Pangulo na pagkalooban ang mga magsasaka ng mga buto at fertilizers upang madagdagan ang ka-nilang crop production.
Ginawa, aniya, ni Duterte ang direktiba sa turn-over ng Certificates of Land Ownership Award sa mahigit 1,600 magsasaka sa Sagay, Negros Occidental noong nakaraang Biyernes.
Dagdag pa ng kaihim, nangako rin ang Pangulo na aatasan si Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III na pondohan ang NFSP.
“The National Fertilizer Support Program, when implemented, is expected to boost the production of rice and corn in the coun-try because one of the most important needs of farmers is the ample supply of fertilizer for their farms,” ani Pinol.
“The budget of the DA last year was only P56 billion while the fertilizer program if implemented is P30 billion. With the Presi-dential directive, however, the DA will implement the program this year as soon as it receives the funding from the Department of Budget and Management,” dagdag pa niya.
Ang NFSP ay ipatutupad sa ‘roll-over’ loaning scheme kung saan babayaran ng mga magsasaka matapos ang anihan ang ferti-lizer na ipinagkaloob sa kanila ng DA.
“Under the ‘Roll-Over Loaning Scheme,’ each farmer recipient will be initially given the fertiliser he needs without any payment but he will be asked to return to the program the value of the fertiliser given to him so that he could be given supplies for the next planting season,” aniya.
“The “Roll-Over Loaning Scheme” in the National Fertilizer Support Program will ensure the sustainability and the accountabil-ity of the project, the DA proposal said,” sabi pa ni Pinol.
Tinukoy ng DA ang insufficient fertilizer application ng mga magsasaka bilang isa sa mga sanhi ng low crop productivity.
“A DA study shows that one of the reasons for the low productivity of rice and corn farmers is the low fertilization rate of their farms because of the high price of fertilizers,” ani Piñol. JASPER EMMANUEL Y. ARCALAS
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