Some 177 rice farmers from Negros Occidental’s Hinigaran town received quick turn-around or early planting incentives worth a total of P296,720 in a distribution led by Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson at the Hinigaran Covered Court on Tuesday, May 18.

The said program of the provincial government is spearheaded by the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) which is intended to minimize the impact of food shortage during the height of the pandemic last year.

To ensure food security and agricultural productivity in the province, the farmers were encouraged to plant rice during the months of April and May last year to make sure that enough crops will be harvested in the month of August.

The beneficiaries of the project were those farmers who responded to the call of the province to engage in early planting to supply the expected demand for rice.

Lacson said that farmers have a huge contribution to the economy, and that food is the most important and basic need of the people, especially with the present pandemic./WDJ