CHEAPER RICE. City resident Jolly Pama (fourth from left) buys a bag of 10 kilos of rice at PHP29 per kilo at the Kadiwa store during the grand launching of the Bagong Bayaning Magsasaka (BBM) rice at the NIA regional office in Iloio City on Friday (Sept. 13, 2024). The National Irrigation Administration prepared 1,000 bags at 10 kilos per bag for the vulnerable sector. (PNA photo by PGLena)
ILOILO CITY – The pilot implementation of the PHP29-per kilo Bagong Bayaning Magsasaka (BBM) rice in Western Visayas region benefited residents here coming from vulnerable groups, including the elderly, persons with disability, and solo parents.
National Irrigation Administration (NIA) acting regional manager Engineer Jonel Borres said once the supply is sufficient, they will roll it out to the general public.
“The moment it is sustainable, we will open this to everybody. Since we are piloting, we are prioritizing the marginal sector,” he said in an interview during the synchronized grand launching of the program on Friday at the NIA regional office in this city.
NIA prepared 1,000 bags of rice at 10 kilos per bag, available in the Kadiwa store.
One of the recipients, 77-year-old Angeles Orquejo from Barangay Balabago in Jaro district, was thankful because the 10 kilos of rice could already suffice their need for one week.
“I am grateful that we have this Kadiwa. I’ve been waiting for this. Thank you so much,” she said in dialect during an interview.
Jolly Pama, 48, a father of two from Barangay Tacas, said the 10 kilos of rice could last two weeks. He said rice sold at a lower price is a big help since commercial rice is almost PHP60 a kilo.
“I am thankful to the government for this cheap rice. This can help us,” said Pama, a person with a disability who drives an electric bike for a living.
Borres said they hope to roll out the program in other provinces next month as the harvest season of farmers who entered into an agreement with NIA on contract farming is expected in the last week of September or early October.
Under contract farming, a farmer or irrigators association signed an agreement with NIA where they will be provided with PHP50,000 in a combination of cash and farm inputs for every hectare of rice plantation.
The support is extended up to post-harvest operations and marketing.
Upon harvest, the farmer will deliver five metric tons of the harvest to NIA. Fifty percent of the well-milled rice will go to Kadiwa stores to be priced at PHP29 a kilo, and the remaining 50 percent for PHP35 per kilo or whatever is the prevailing price in the market.
The remaining supply from the five metric tons will go to the farmers or the irrigators association.
“With the help of DA, we target to harvest over five hectares per hectare. The average per data from the Department of Agriculture is 3.6 metric tons per hectare,” he said.
Borres said they piloted more than 1,200 hectares in the region, a big help when it comes to the projection on rice sufficiency. (PNA)
