LATEST NEWS

CEBU CITY – At least two million Filipinos from this city, and other major cities in the country, will be vaccinated against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) by April.

The Department of Agriculture (DA-7)-Central Visayas distributed cash and food subsidy vouchers to 9,492 qualified marginal farmers in the region amounting to P47,460,000 at P5,000 each farmer for the first release for 2021 as part of the government’s assistance during this pandemic time.

Cebu City, through an executive memorandum from mayor Edgar Labella, encouraged the public to start 2021 right by planting varieties of ornamentals, forest and fruit trees, herbal plants, others at backyards and spaces around the house as the City Agriculture Department (CAD) offers free seedlings and planting materials.

The Department of Education-Tanjay City Division tapped the San Julio Agrarian Reform Beneficiary Cooperative (ARBC), a farmer cooperative in Tanjay City, Negros Oriental engaged in dairy carabao milk production and processing as its partner in the school-base milk feeding program and is expected to supply milk packs intended for the schoolchildren of Tanjay City.

CEBU CITY – The Department of Agriculture in Central Visayas (DA-7) called for heightened public vigilance and more stringent border measures in all ports in the region following the official declaration of African swine fever (ASF) infestation in Region 8, the first case of ASF in the Visayas.

The Department of Agriculture (DA-7)-Central Visayas is now focused on improving the livestock industry of Negros Oriental by enhancing the San Jose Breeding Station at Barangay Janay-Janay in San Jose town as a satellite research outreach station (ROS) of Negros Oriental Research and Development Center (NORDC) of DA-Region 7 to cater to the livestock and other agricultural needs of the farmers in the province. DA-7 regional director Atty. Salvador Diputado in his recent visit at the breeding station, he found the area productive and functional that the center aside from being a livestock breeding station, is now a diversified ROS with the establishment of other crops production areas like cacao and coffee. “The agency’s plan for the ROS is to position it as a potential expansion area for the cacao-coconut intercropping as well as the super sweet jackfruit seedlings.  However, before the release of seedlings or any interventions to farmer-recipients, the area of the farmers must be validated first,” Diputado said. According to NORDC chief Evansueda Abbas that the station has one hectare each for cacao and coffee plantation and it has also 20 heads of breeder turkeys and 30 heads of native chicken with off springs intended for distribution under the provincial dispersal program. Provincial Agriculture Technology and Program Coordinating Office (PATCO) in Negros Oriental, Sarah Perocho bared that the station will continue to operate now that it is being facelifted and improved.  “Ang in-charge diri nga research station naglihok jud aron mapalambo ang station para sa mga mag-uuma,” Perocho said. (The person in-charge of this research station is really working hard to develop and improve the area for the farmers). Meanwhile the DA-7 has turned over 30 heads of upgraded heifer or female cows to farmers in the municipalities of Pamplona and Mabinay and in Guihulngan City with female cows worth P39,900 each or more than one million pesos.  Each local government unit was given 10 cow heads. DA-7 Livestock Coordinator Dr. Voltaire Zeam Amper said that the animals are part of the Expanded Livestock and Poultry Production and Livelihood Project for COVID-19 Response under the “Ahon Lahat, Pagkaing Sapat (ALPAS) Kontra sa COVID-19 Bayanihan I.” Amper added that the project’s objective is to ensure that farmers during this pandemic can produce their own food and can raise additional income for their family. “Qualified beneficiaries of these animals for dispersal are farmer associations and members who are registered in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA),” Amper said. Amper also bared that DA-7 has already delivered 30 heads of heifers to farmers in Bohol and 19 heads were also distributed in Siquijor.  “We are also awaiting the delivery of another 24 heads of upgraded buffalos,” he added. Perocho on the other hand said that the heifers were delivered and distributed to the Fatima Farmer Association of Pamplona; Farm Family Association of Mabinay; and Kapunungang Makugihong Mag-uuma of Guihulngan City. Mabinay Municipal Agriculturist Leilanie Malacapay said the farmer-beneficiaries of the project expressed their gratitude to DA for this livelihood project they received. She hoped that agricultural support continues to pour to the farmers.

The Department of Agriculture (DA-7) has equipped farmers in Negros Oriental with trainings on production and marketing for cacao, corn, cassava and hybrid rice to enhance their skills and knowledge on new farming technologies for sustainable income and livelihood from agriculture.

There is a need to strictly implement and put into motion the National Sardines Management Plan especially during the closed fishing season in the Visayan Sea to ensure food and livelihood security for municipal fisherfolk and commercial fish workers during the period.

TAGBILARAN CITY—The Bohol Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) plans to raise a P10-million seed fund to buy COVID-19 vaccines for the private sector frontline workers to ensure their protection from the virus.

The Department of Agriculture (DA-7) with the Cebu Provincial Agriculture Office (PAO), Local Government Unit (LGU) of Asturias, Cebu and Virginia Farms Incorporated conducted the corn varietal derby in Asturias town in Cebu 1st week of December this year to showcase corn production of various corn varieties.

The Department of Agriculture (DA-7) has urged the various local government units (LGUs) in Central Visayas to revisit, update and craft their respective localized Food Security Plan (FSP) to address food accessibility and availability in local communities in a DA-LGU Harmonization of Agricultural Initiatives conference on December 11 held in Balamban Cebu.

CEBU CITY – The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR)-Fisheries Resource Protection Group (FRPG) and the PNP Maritime Group (PMG) intensified sea patrol operations in the Visayan Seas that led to the arrest of three dynamite fishers from Iloilo.

CEBU CITY -- The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Central Visayas has disbursed P60,792,000 in emergency cash subsidy of P6,000 each to a total of 10,132 low-income families in Central Visayas as of December 9 this year.

CEBU CITY – The Department of Agriculture (DA-7), the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos-Visayas (NCMF-Visayas) and the Regional Halal Agriculture Fishery and Advisory Council (RHAFAC) wants to strengthen the advocacy and implementation of Halal in Central Visayas.

PINAMUNGAJAN, Cebu – The Department of Agriculture (DA) released some P91,043,000 worth of agricultural interventions and launched its cash and food subsidy program to various farmers and fisherfolks in Cebu during the visit of Secretary William Dar at the Lamac Multipurpose Cooperative (LMPC) in Pinamungajan town in Cebu on December 7.

CEBU CITY— The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in Central Visayas (BFAR-7) has implemented projects to increase fish production that include training programs and distribution of fishing inputs to fisherfolk associations in Cebu and Bohol, Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (OPAV) assistant secretary Jonjie Gonzales said during the National Network Briefing News on Wednesday.

DUMAGUETE CITY – The City of Dumaguete has reactivated its quarantine control points due to the sudden and unusual increase in the number of active COVID-19 cases in the city in November infecting members of the same families, read a public advisory signed by Mayor Felipe Remollo.

BATUAN, Bohol – The Department of Agriculture (DA) in Central Visayas has launched the “Regional Hybrid Rice Derby” in Batuan town in Bohol Province with the aim of boosting rice production in Central Visayas.