CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – Third District Board Member Ferdinand Labung disclosed that Pampanga is 100 percent rice sufficient based on the volume of rice production annually.
Labung, chair of the committee on agriculture disclosed that Pampanga is the third in Central Luzon when it comes to rice production and sixteenth in the whole country.
“Pampanga is 70 percent agricultural land with 140,216 hectares devoted for planting crops primarily rice,” Labung added.
Records from the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) indicate that there are 35,516 Kapampangan farmers who produce 47 921 metric tons of rice which is more than enough to supply the need of the province.
“The rice production in Pampanga can support the need of our kabalen and we still have surplus that could be supplied to other provinces and in Metro Manila,” said Labung.
The committee chair noted the assistance extended by the provincial government to farmers as the key for the improvement of the agriculture sector.
“Capitol gives training on new technology in farming. We have also distributed farm tools and equipment to different farmers’ organizations as well as financial assistance for those identified as marginalized farmers who own less than a hectare of land,” he said.
He said they are now targeting the construction of farm to market roads and irrigation systems to perk up economic activity in agriculture.
Labung also said that Pampanga is still the number one tilapia producer in the region.
BY JENNA LUMBANG
