ILOILO CITY (PIA) - - The Department of Agriculture (DA) Western Visayas gave Fertilizer Discount Vouchers (FDA) worth P5,350,422.00 to 1,093 beneficiaries in a recent mass distribution held in San Rafael, Iloilo.

DA OIC-Regional Executive Director Jose Albert Barrogo led the FDV distribution attended by Iloilo's 5th District Representative Raul Tupas Jr., 5th District Provincial Board Member Binky April Tupas, Mayor Roberto Belleza Jr., and Municipal Agriculturist Richard Torreverde.

In a DA 6 press report, Barrogo said the intervention seeks to increase the local production in Western Visayas, the third largest palay-producing region nationwide. However, due to crop losses brought on by typhoons and insufficient fertilizer application, the region's output fell from 2.356 million metric tons in 2021 to 2.321 million in 2022.

Farmers will use the FDVs, valued at P6,600.00 per hectare, to claim urea fertilizers at 165 DA-accredited merchants regionwide this 2022-2023 dry cropping season.

Barrogo cautioned farmers not to convert their fertilizer vouchers into cash because the DA will sanction dealers and recipients who violate the guidelines.

continue to plant despite the current high fertilizer price, but they would not be able to attain the target yield as they would resort to fertilizer underapplication.

With this, DA continues to provide input subsidies to farmers, such as seeds, fertilizer, training, and cash assistance, to improve production and yield. 

She added that the fertilizer vouchers are only intended for urea since it is the major nutrient element inadequate in most rice lands.

"However, this does not imply that you will only fertilize your rice with urea. You should also apply other key elements, including phosphorus and potassium, to attain favorable production and yield," said Torreverde.

DA's free soil analysis service, so they determine the recommended kind and amount of fertilizer for rice, corn, and other crops grown in the municipality based on the soil requirements.

With the funding from the DA's General Appropriations Act 2022, the 11 towns in Northern Iloilo have a total of P70,480,388.88 FDV allocation this cropping season.

Representative Tupas assured DA and farmers that Congress would approve funding for interventions that benefit the agriculture and fishery sector underlining the government's thrust on food security. 

He also thanked the DA for granting state-of-the art rice mill and rice combine harvester to San Rafael.

On the other hand, Barrogo discussed with the local officials and presidents of the 18 farmers' associations the possible interventions from DA to increase the irrigated areas in San Rafael, which will eventually translate to improved palay production volume and yield. (JBG/DA-RAFIS 6/laf/PIA6-Iloilo)