POE APPEALS FOR SEED SUBSIDY FOR FARMERS AFFECTED BY OMPONG

Sen. Grace Poe said the government's 'basket of aid' for Ompong-hit farmers in Northern Luzon should include seeds for replanting to help them quickly recover from the damage caused by the strongest typhoon that hit the country so far this year.

"First, give them food to help them tide over, then give them the resources to grow food. Although they would welcome relief goods, what they need more is production assistance," Poe said.

One of them could be in the form of seed subsidy, she stressed.

"Give a Cagayan Valley farmer a bag of rice, and he can feed his family for a week, but give him rice seeds for planting, and he can feed many people for a long time."

Citing PhilRice, Poe said 40 kilos of its certified rice seeds are enough to plant one hectare.

"The ROI here is bigger. Malaki ang multiplier effect, volume-wise 100 times. And from a procurement point of view, certified seeds are cheaper than milled rice at P32.50 per kilo."

"Bago tayo mag-angkat ng milyong toneladang bigas mula sa ibang bansa, baka puwedeng tulungan din natin ang sarili nating mga magsasaka," Poe stressed.

The senator said "rice, corn and vegetable" seeds can be given directly by the government to farmers, or its purchase shall be clearly earmarked in any production grant or credit assistance.

But Poe said a seed assistance program will only work if done in tandem with the repair of typhoon-damaged rural infrastructure such as irrigation, farm-to-market roads and solar dryers.

"Samahan na rin natin ng discounted gasoline para sa kanilang traktora, mabilis na bayad ng crop insurance at extension ng payment ng loans na walang interest," Poe said.

She reiterated her earlier call to the government to treat the rehabilitation of Cagayan Valley farms as a matter of "national food security" saying that the region's five provinces and four cities account for one-fourth and one-seventh of the national rice and corn production.

Poe earlier urged the immediate release of Calamity Funds to the region considered as the cereal bowl that feeds the nation.