A total of 4,279 farmers in Bago City, the top rice-producing local government unit in Negros Occidental and Western Visayas, received PHP21.39 million in cash aid under the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) – Rice Farmers Financial Assistance program.

Data on Tuesday showed cash cards containing PHP5,000 were given to each of the recipients from all the 24 barangays in the city.

Marvin John Blance, city agriculturist-designate, said the assistance is intended for farmers who cultivate an area of two hectares or less.

“This will help augment their income affected by the implementation of the Rice Tariffication Law. They cannot compete with imported rice and one way to help them is to give them financial assistance,” he added.

All the eligible farmers have been enrolled in the national government’s Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture.

The beneficiaries were 1,796 farmers from Barangays Malingin, Napoles, Ma-ao, Mailum, Binubuhan, Bacong, and Ilijan, and 751 farmers from Barangays Alianza, Caridad, Sagasa, Pacol, Bagroy, and Don Jorge Araneta.

A total of 948 farmers from Barangays Taloc, Dulao, Atipuluan, Tabunan, and Abuanan also received the assistance, along with 784 rice farmer-beneficiaries from Barangays Sampinit, Balingasag, Lag-asan, Busay, Calumangan, and Poblacion.

Farmer-beneficiaries Wilfredo Sebuan and Gina Regalado said the cash aid could help them, not only in farming but also in other expenses as their income has also been affected by losses brought by hog deaths that hit many backyard swine raisers in the city.

“I’m glad to receive the assistance. It has been hard financially for us. My pigs also died,” Sebuan said in the local dialect.

Regalado said she is thankful to be a recipient of the PHP5,000 financial aid that she would mainly use to buy farm inputs for the current planting season.

“This is a big help in times of calamity, not only for our rice farm but also for other needs because our animals were also affected,” she added.

Bago, located just south of Bacolod, is considered the rice granary of the province for its vast rice plantations, producing more than 30 percent of the rice supply of Negros Occidental.

Figures from the Office of the City Agriculturist showed that Bago, which has a rice sufficiency level of 200 percent, recorded an average rice production output of 4.2 metric tons per hectare in 2022. (PNA)