TARLAC CITY — Some rice farmers in the province attended the Fertilizer Merchants Meeting and Training on Intervention Management Platform (IMP) recently launched by the Department of Agriculture (DA) Central Luzon under the Rice Banner Program.
The trainings — conducted at the Diwa ng Tarlac, Barangay San Vicente here — are in coordination with the Provincial Agriculture Office (PAO) which aims to update fertilizer merchants of the new guidelines in the implementation of the 2022 National Rice Program-Fertilizer Discount Voucher Support.
The event also aims to hinder and rectify the wrong way farmers avail their assistance.
The Fertilizer Discount Voucher is a program of the DA that benefits registered farmers under the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture and have received rice seedlings. A total of 50 business owners of fertilizer stores attended the training.
The event imparted new protocols in voucher distribution, merchant accreditation and the use of the IMP.
According to Regional Rice Banner Program officer Billy Roy Aquino, the discount voucher can only be used once and can only be exchanged to accredited fertilizer merchants. He added that these vouchers can only be exchanged for fertilizers or biological stimulants.
Meantime, Tarlac Provincial Agriculturist Alicia Cruz reminded the beneficiaries that the vouchers cannot be exchanged for money, adding that there have been reports that these vouchers were asked to be cashed in by the beneficiaries.
Cruz said that if they catch these beneficiaries trying to cash in their vouchers, they will be blacklisted and will be banned from participating in the FVS program. She furthered that they will require the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority to remove their licenses.