At least 805 rice farmers in the Province of Dinagat Islands will finally receive their fertilizer discount vouchers as the rollout of the distribution in the province finally started on Tuesday.

The Department of Agriculture in the Caraga Region (DA-13), in a statement Wednesday said a total of 107 rice farmers received their fertilizer vouchers on Tuesday during the distribution program conducted in the town of Cagdianao.

The overall target of 805 farmers will receive their fertilizer vouchers as the distribution activity will continue in the province this week.

The distribution activity on Tuesday was led by DA-13 Regional Executive Director Ricardo Oñate Jr. with the support of the top officials of the province and the local agriculture office.

A total of PHP3.2 million discount vouchers are allocated for the Dinagat Islands which will cover some 495 hectares of rice farms.

“The recipients of the discount vouchers were smallholder farmers in the Dinagat Islands who were already registered in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture, and are tilling 0.25 hectares to a maximum of 2 hectares of rice farms,” the DA-13 said.

Depending on the size of their farms, each beneficiary is provided with PHP1,650 to PHP6,600 worth of fertilizer discount vouchers.

The handing out of vouchers in the whole Caraga Region started on the first week of this month targeting 25,620 rice farmers in the area with a budget of PHP151 million. (PNA)