With the onset of the rainy season, farmers are encouraged to use certified seeds in their farmlots to ensure a good harvest, Provincial Agriculturist Igmedio Tabianan said yesterday.

He said certified seeds are available not only at the PhilRice station in Brgy. Cansilayan, Murcia, but also from seed growers all over the province. Tabianan said it is important for the farmers to use the right variety of seeds, adaptable to the kind of land they cultivate to guarantee high yield and productive cropping season.

Tabianan said that planting already started in areas where there is sufficient water supply while OPA intervention has to be made in upland areas where irrigation facilities are lacking.

Unlike the farmlots in Bago City and Valladolid where there is existing irrigation facilities, Tabianan said water supply remains a problem for farmers in upland barangays.

He said his office sends agricultural engineers to these areas to study the situation and help the farmers establish water facilities such as diversion dams or shallow tube-wells.

Tabianan said that while the dry spell this year did not cause any major damage to the first cropping season this year, upland areas in southern Negros still need heavy rainfall before the farmers can start planting.

The scattered rains experienced lately failed to reach certain areas in the south, he said.

Meanwhile, the OPA continues to implement its local projects in coordination with the agricultural productivity program of the provincial government.*NB

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