LAOAG CITY, Ilocos Norte, Jan. 31 (PIA) – The Laoag City Agriculture Office is encouraging farmers to plant more hybrid crops which are climate and drought resistant to lessen the production cost of farmers in irrigating their farmlands.
According to city agriculturist, Engr. Shiela Marie Opelac, aside from the supply from their own funds, they will also get funding from the Laoag City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (CDRRMO) to purchase more drought-resistant variety crops, biofertilizers, and soil ameliorants to be distributed to farmers.
“The hybrid and inbred varieties have the same price because the price is regulated. It also has the same taste but their only difference is the inbred varieties need a lot of water to grow while the hybrid seeds are climate and drought-resistant,” she said.
The city agriculture office is mostly distributing drought-resistant hybrid seeds of rice, corn, potatoes, eggplant, mungbeans, snake beans, and squash to farmers.
Opelac added that planting these hybrid seeds can result in higher crop production because they have minimal risk of crop failure due to their resiliency to unpredictable stresses, especially weather.
As an added assistance, the city government is also expecting to receive seven Solar-Powered Irrigation Systems (SPIS) for the farming barangays in the city, this year.
Each unit of SPIS can produce 18 to 22 cubic meters of water per hour with a serviceable area of about 5 hectares.
According to Opelac, they will determine the seven sites to install the SPIS strategically to benefit as many hectares of farmland as possible.
This SPIS project is funded through the share of the city government under the Republic Act No. 7171 which specifies that 15 percent of the proceeds from excise taxes on locally manufactured Virginia type of cigarettes be allotted to provinces producing them.
