Agriculture Secretary William Dar distributed a total of P74.25 million of assistance and interventions to Rizal farmers who have been gravely affected by typhoon Ulysses.

The interventions composed of certified rice and hybrid rice seeds, corn seeds, assorted vegetable seeds, fertilizer, and other farm inputs funded under the rice, corn. and high-value crops development program of the Department of Agriculture (DA) in CALABARZON were awarded to farmers’ cooperatives and associations of Teresa, Cardona, Pililia, Rodriguez, San Mateo, Binanginan, Jala-jala, Cainta, Tanay, Taytay, Baras, Morong, and Antipolo City.

Aside from farm inputs, the interventions also included various farm equipment and machineries to increase farmers’ production and income including 4WD tractors, hand tractors, and rice transplanter, among others.

Secretary Dar urged the farmers to form themselves into groups and cooperatives to avail of more assistance from the government.

“Mas maganda po na kayo ay magbuo ng organisasyon at samahan para mas mabilis naming maipaabot ang tulong namin sa inyong lahat,” he said.

In addition, the DA chief urged everyone to register under the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA), an electronic compilation or database of basic information of target beneficiaries of agriculture-related programs and services of the government including DA-accredited farmer organizations.

The assistance forms part of the government’s aid to the CALABARZON region which has incurred a total of P2.5 billion damages in agriculture and fisheries.

According to Regional Executive Director Arnel de Mesa, all the provinces of CALABARZON have been hit by a total of eight typhoons from October to November. ### (Adora Rodriguez, DA-AFID)