Chaired by DA-RFO 1, the Regional Management Council in region 1 held its 4th quarter meeting for CY 2022 on December 6, 2022 at ATI, La Trinidad, Benguet.

The meeting was conducted to inform the participants of the guidelines on fertilizer discount voucher for dry season 2022, the status of RCEF implementation in the region, and the status of African Swine Fever (ASF) and Avian Influenza. The meeting was attended by heads and representatives from member agencies and attached bureaus.

Mr. Erwin Frigillana, Agriculturist II, presented the amended guidelines on fertilizer discount voucher for dry season wherein he mentioned that to serve more farmers, the maximum voucher value an eligible farmer-beneficiary can receive is P13,200 which is equivalent to 2 hectares. The vouchers that will be distributed for the CY 2022 dry season can be used in acquiring urea fertilizers to attain the target yield of 4.22 MT per hectare for 2023.

Following the presented updates on FDV, Ms. Analiza Ramos, OIC chief of the Field Operations Division also tackled the RCEF implementation in region 1 with a detailed discussion on each component of the program.

Meanwhile, the status of bird flu or Avian influenza and ASF was also presented by Dr. Allen Mae Doctolero of the Regulatory Division along with the corresponding actions taken by the department to prevent the widespread of the viruses in the region. Aside from the preventive measures undertaken, the DA also provided interventions to swine and poultry raisers affected by the said animal diseases.

Further, the council also discussed the action plan for the integrated implementation of projects and programs for CY 2023 in order to provide the needed interventions from the clients’ end.

“There are so many interventions from the government, and with you colleagues, we can arrange the system of giving interventions to our farmers, with closer coordination like this we can make the implementation smooth,” said OIC RED Annie Bares at the meeting.