Batac adopts new technology in rice planting

5,037 farmers received P5,000 cash assistance from DA

By Dominic B. dela Cruz (Staff Reporter)

City of Batac—The city government here is pilot testing the “walk-behind transplanter, one of the latest agricultural technologies at Brgy. San Pedro, this city.

Batac Mayor Albert D. Chua said they began this by turning over one unit of the said transplanter to the San Pedro farmers.

Chua added that this is a part of the city’s farm mechanization program wherein the equipment is expected to lessen labor cost as it reduces work load and ensures uniform spacing and plant density.

They based the  adoption of this technology, according to the mayor, as an offshoot of a techno demo conducted by the Philippine Rice Institute (PhilRice) which the farmers witnessed and gathered its importance.

The city government then purchased one of the said equipment and chose San Pedro as its pilot barangay for the project.

The use of the transplanter supplants the usual use of four to six laborers as only the machine operator is now involved, thus reducing labor cost.

Chua believes this machine will be beneficial to those who have at lease 1,000 square meters of land.

He stated further that the city government is open and ready to purchase additional transplanters, if needed, for other barangays.

Equipment, cash assistance for farmers

Earlier, the city government here distributed diesel-fed engine water pumps with irrigation hose to 1,000 Batac farmers, who were not included on the list during past distributions.

The mayor stressed that he will continue to prioritize the “empowerment of the agriculture sector” and he intends to sustain this program. 

Chua also said that the pumps and hose distribution will help ensure the timely irrigation of crops and will increase farm productivity.

In addition to this, 5,037 eligible farmer beneficiaries in this city received PHP5,000 cash assistance each from the Dept. of  Agriculture. The DA distributed the cash assistance from Aug. 10-12, 2022.

The cash assistance program is under the DA’s “Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Program”, which aims to provide direct assistance to rice farmers as compensation for the projected reduction or loss of farm income due to the COVID-19 pandemic.