TACLOBAN CITY – The Leyte Provincial Agriculture Office will again start this Feb. its “Plant Now, Pay Later” program for corn.
This was disclosed by Provincial Agriculturist Alfredo Guevarra in an interview with Leyte Samar Daily Express recently.
It was learned from him that the program will focus more on the hybrid yellow corn variety and will benefit only the corn farmers in the municipalities within the first district of Leyte.
Guevarra said the program will yet start in Feb. because the planting season for corn starts from the said month until the month of May.
“The farmer-beneficiaries in this program will receive a package of assistance from the government which means they will be provided with all the necessities in planting the said variety of corn,” Guevarra said.
The assistance include the corn planting material, fertilizer, technical assistance from the government, and others.
Guevarra said the farmer-beneficiaries for this program this year is yet to be determined as the provincial agriculture office is still gathering some data contributory to the programs in agriculture this year.
Guevarra told Express that every beneficiary for this program will sure have a good harvest of corn because of the technical assistance and the technology that they are told to apply in their plantation.
The market, he said, is also sure to exist because some have already been contacted even before the harvest of the corn plantation of the farmer-beneficiaries.
Guevarra said the harvested corn is usually being bought by feed millers as the milled corn is used as feeds for the livestock.
Right now the provincial government, he said, is still trying to iron out the plans for this program so that it will run smoothly. In fact it is even contemplating of making some tie ups with a loaning agency that would serve as the collecting arm of the program by the time of harvest.
“The province wanted that the program be sustained so it is also bent in making the necessary steps to ensure that the farmers will pay their dues after harvest as agreed,” Guevarra pointed out.
