AFFORDABLE RICE. Rice being sold at PHP25 per kilogram in a “Bigasan ng Bayan” outlet in Pulupandan, Negros Occidental, in February 2024. Under the program, the provincial government sold 14,675 kilograms of milled rice to 3,649 individuals since October last year. (File photo courtesy of PIO Negros Occidental)
BACOLOD CITY – A total of 3,649 individuals in Negros Occidental have availed of PHP25 per kilogram (kg.) of rice sold by the provincial government on various occasions in collaboration with the Federation of Irrigators Association of Central Negros-Bago River Irrigation System (FIACN-BRIS).
Data on Wednesday showed the “Bigasan ng Bayan” program sold 14,675 kilograms of milled rice to priority beneficiaries, including senior citizens, persons with disability, and indigents following its launching in October last year until February 2024.
In a statement, Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said he hopes the province will be able to produce more rice at a lower price to benefit more Negrenses.
“This collaboration of the provincial government with the FIACN-BRIS aims to help Negrense families, especially the vulnerable sector, buy affordable rice. At the same time, we help our farmers have an assured income and a lower cost and improve farm production,” he added.
The “Bigasan ng Bayan,” which allows individual buyers to avail up to 5 kgs, was launched at the province’s Food Terminal Market here in October last year, followed by another in November.
In December, PHP25 per kilo of rice was sold in Bago City. The “Bigasan ng Bayan” went to Pulupandan in February this year.
The FIACN-BRIS, which is under the National Irrigation Administration-Negros Occidental Irrigation Management Office, comprises rice farmers in the cities of Bacolod, Bago, and La Carlota, as well as the municipalities of Murcia, Pulupandan, Valladolid, and San Enrique.
The provincial government assisted them under the Dagyaw Project in producing high-yield rice at a lower production cost with the assistance of job order (JO) workers, who are also association members, in planting crops and operating farm machinery.
FIACN-BRIS president Pedro Limpangog said that when ricefields in southern Negros were hit by Typhoon Goring in August last year, the Dagyaw Project workers helped them save their crops.
“In return, we contributed to be able to sell rice at a lower price. At that time, rice prices were high, so we, the farmers under the FIACN-BRIS, pooled our production to sell rice at PHP25 per kilo. Since then, we sold almost 15,000 kgs of rice that benefited more than 3,600 individuals,” he added.
Limpangog thanked the governor for the provincial government’s continued support of the farming sector.
“Through the assistance of the province, we were able to increase production and lower farm costs through the Dagyaw workers who have been working with us since 2022,” he said.
He added the JO workers, with their compensation from the province, were able to provide for their families, send their children to school, and earn enough to buy farm inputs. (PNA)
