The Department of Agriculture is adopting a third cropping season for palay starting this year as part of its strategy to increase the country's rice production by at least 20 percent yearly in a bid to achieve self-sufficiency, Secretary Arthur Yap said.

In a statement from his office, Yap said the adoption of the “quick turnaround” or QTA program, which yielded a 20 percent increase in palay harvests last year by inserting a third cropping season, will help the DA raise palay output in 2008 by 5.78 percent.

The figure is equivalent to a peak of 17.3 million metric tons and achieves a national self-sufficiency level of 92 percent, he said.

PESO hires 65 for jobs abroad

Sixty-five applicants have been accepted for jobs through the Bacolod Public Employment Service Office as of Jan. 25, the mayor's office said.

Executive Assistant to the City Mayor, Moises de la Cruz, whose cluster supervises the PESO, said Americana Quality, recruiter for service crew for Pizza Hut, KFC and other such food chains in the United Arab Emirates , hired a number of applicants from Bacolod .

He said the firm's representative Ahmed Hassan Ahmed said there is presently a need for 6,000 workers in the United Arab Emirates .

Cadiz City opens
FITS center

Cadiz City recently opened its Farmers' Information and Technology Services Center , or Techno Pinoy, at the City Agriculture Office compound, a press release from the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist said.

It also held an information caravan on various agricultural technologies at the city gymnasium.

Officials of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development, Western Visayas Agriculture and Resources Research and Development Consortium led by Dr. Ma. Luisa Mabunay, and city officials led by Mayor Salvador Escalante Jr. attended the FITS opening, the press release said.

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