Dr Taugan Kikay, MAFAR Consultant for Special Concens, along with community leader Hadji Mando Santukan, led the team to the target planting areas and showed the vast land, which according to the former, is approximately 300 hectares, waiting to be planted with rice.

“These people have been farming as you can see and this is the very first time, they have received such agricultural production support through MAFAR”, said Dr Kikay.

Meanwhile, Dr Mohammad S. Yacob, MAFAR Minister, has urged the team to continue with such activity as the farmers really need assistance especially now that they are affected by the difficulty brought by the Corona Virus Disease (CoViD)-19. He also reminded the team to be extra cautious and observe precautionary measures like social distancing in the course of the activity.

Leading the team, Tong A. Abas, Rice Program Focal Person, said the seeds distributed were of high quality and can be harvested in more or less three months. He added that the assistance was financed under the 2019 banner program funds from the Department of Agriculture.

On the other hand, 51 women in the locality including the wives of the farmer-recipients received assorted vegetable seeds (Kangkong Pinoy, squash, watermelon, eggplant, pole sitao) through the High Value Crops Development Program (HVCDP) of the ministry with the facilitation of Dr Kikay and Program Focal Person Dr Jalika D. Mangacop.

With the area’s high potential for maximized rice production and available water source, it has been identified as one of the sites in the region for possible establishment of solar-powered irrigation system.