Philippines Farmers benefit from DA’s fertilizer assistance program
The Department of Agriculture (DA) in Central Luzon recently organized an orientation and signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Fertilizer Merchants of Tarlac to support the National Rice Program Fertilizer Discount Voucher initiative.
This collaboration is part of the Rice Program, in conjunction with the Provincial Agriculture Office of Tarlac.
The objective of the program is to educate DA-affiliated fertilizer merchants about the proper implementation of the Fertilizer Discount Voucher program for the year 2023.
Billy Roy Aquino, the representative of the Regional Rice Banner Program, stated that the distribution of vouchers will commence during the upcoming wet season. He also discussed the program’s implementation guidelines.
Aquino highlighted the use of the Intervention Management Platform system and addressed the appropriate pricing of fertilizers to be provided to farmers.
Furthermore, he emphasized that only fertilizers registered with the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA), such as Complete (14-14-14), Urea (46-0-0), Ammonium sulfate (21-0-0), and Muriate of potash (0-0-60), can be distributed to farmers.
Under this program, rice farmers registered in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture and encoded in the Farmers and Fisherfolk Registry System will receive Fertilizer Vouchers worth P4,000 per hectare. These vouchers can be redeemed at accredited fertilizer merchants designated by the DA.
