DAVAO CITY (PIA) — The National Irrigation Administration-XI (NIA-XI) works towards bringing down the price of rice to P29.00 per kilo through contracting with members of irrigators associations.
Guesting at the Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas, NIA-XI Regional Manager Jimmy L. Apostol said the rice contracting is aimed at increasing productivity to promote the economy in rice production, processing and storage, as well as to reduce labor cost.
“Through this we are able to sell rice at P29.00 a kilo packed in 10 kilos per bag,” he said referring to this method of contracting produced rice as BBM (Bagong Bayaning Magsasaka) Rice.
This year NIA-XI has contracted 194.56 hectares with 15 irrigation associations from which NIA identifies the specific farmer beneficiaries in areas with enough water supply, i.e., accessible, and whose irrigators association has a post harvest or storage facility.
Given a budget allocation of P45-million this year through the contract farming program, NIA-XI extends labor assistance which covers the cost of transplanting and maintaining the rice paddies, and farm inputs such as seeds, fertilizer, and insecticides.
When harvest season comes, NIA requires from farmer beneficiaries five tons of fresh palay equivalent to 100 sacks at 50 kilos per bag, and once given, NIA will pay farmers P50,000 for the fresh palay produce.
The milled fresh palay is then sold at P29 per kilo, packed into 10 kilos per bag labelled as “Bagong Bayaning Magsasaka at NIA Tungo sa Bagong Pilipinas,” referred to as the Bagong Bayani Rice.
Apostol said wider irrigated areas of 1,000 hectares shall be contracted in 2025 for the production of more NIA Bagong Bayani Rice with a budget allocation of P125 million.
With increased production, NIA expects to sell more to the market other than to those in the vulnerable sector now being prioritized to purchase the Bagong Bayani Rice, he said. (JMDA, PIA XI, photo from NIA-XI)
