DA-XI turns over seeds to SAAD beneficiaries in de Oro

To sustain food security and provide additional income for farmers in remote and disadvantage barangays of , the Special Area for Agricultural Development (SAAD-XI) conducted a series of distribution of Upland Rice Production (URP) and White Corn Production (WCP) under its livelihood assistance component.

Nine municipalities of the province benefited from the program which include Compostela, , Maco, , Laak, Montevista, , , and Mabini.

The URP package is composed of one bag of upland rice seeds (40 kgs) with one bag of complete fertilizer (50kgs) and one bag of urea fertilizer (50kgs) valued at P4,456 per package to be planted in one hectare. This is given to the 1000 farmers in upland rice producing areas.

The WCP on the other hand is composed of one bag of OPV white corn seeds (20 kgs), one bag of complete fertilizer (50kgs) and one bag of urea fertilizer (50kgs) valued at P2,502 to be planted in one hectare corn field. A total of 1000 corn farmers received this package in corn producing areas.

SAAD Regional Focal Person Naomi Lamata, said that amid threath of COVID-19, the series of turn over activity is unhampered since the government is focusing on producing enough and affordable food for all Filipinos.

“I am thankful for the partnership of the local government units of each because for helping us making the distribution peaceful and smooth sailing while maintaining the enhanced community quarantine protocol such as social distancing and wearing of masks among the farmers,” Lamata said.

She added that as of this date, the program distribution activity already achieved 70 percent of the target and will be finished before the planting season starts.

SAAD is a locally-funded program of the Department of Agriculture (DA), which aims to alleviate poverty among the marginalized sectors on agriculture and fishery. For , only the province of Davao de Oro is chosen as beneficiary because of its high poverty incidence.

Caption: SAAD beneficiaries receive their seeds just in time for the planting season. ______