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‘Masagana 150’ key agricultural focus of PBBM admin

July 24, 2022 People's Tonight 232 views

THE Department of Agriculture (DA) is looking into a “Masagana 150” program that will target to produce 150 cavans of rice harvest per hectare, Undersecretary Kristine Evangelista has said.

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s father and namesake, the late president Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr., introduced “Masagana 99” in the 1970s to prevent a nationwide rice shortage.

The program was designed to increase rice production by giving farmers high-yielding rice varieties to promote the country’s rice self-sufficiency by raising the average palay crop yield from 40 cavans per hectare to 99 cavans per hectare.

The Masagana 150 program, Evangelista said, would employ new technology to help the farmers increase their yield.

“It’s anchored in increasing the yield based on the tech we can avail of, and the tech we have, but the idea is to reach that much as far as cavans is concerned. We’re looking at how and when this can be implemented,” she said in an interview on ANC on Wednesday.

“We plant in October, we harvest next year. To manage expectations, it’s not going to be harvested this year. If Masagana 150 will be implemented, we’re looking at it to bring down the price of rice and help our farmers come up with better yield.”

Evangelista said currently, the department is “exploring” all possibilities to be able to push through with the program. Philippine News Agency

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