City, DA tie-up for Corn Seeds Assistance Project

THE 19th City Council during its regular session Monday presided over by Vice Mayor Raineir Joaquin V. Uy enacted an ordinance authorizing the City Mayor to enter into and sign the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Department of Agriculture-Regional Office No. 10 (DA-10) covering the implementation of the latter’s Corn Seeds Assistance Project.

This is pursuant to DA-10’s mandated function of promoting agricultural development through a bottom-up self-reliant farming systems approach that will emphasize equity, productivity and sustainability in the use of agricultural resources shall provide integrated services to ensure increase in the farm productivity as well as farmers’ income.

Under the MOA, the DA shall procure the NSIC registered corn seeds from seed companies and accredited corn seed growers/distributor in accordance with RA 9184 (Government Procurement Law), conduct quality and quantity tests on seeds delivered to ensure conformity with the existing and prescribed quality standards.

It shall also distribute the corn seeds to the LGU as grant scheme upon compliance of all the required documents, monitor the activities of the farmer-member beneficiaries from the Registered Farmers Association and Farmers Cooperative and assist the city to institute corrective measures when needed.

For its part, the city shall submit to DA the list of recipients of the project, facilitate the positioning and distribution of corn seeds to the farmer-member beneficiaries from the registered farmers’ associations and farmers’ cooperative, provide technical assistance on corn production and post-production management to corn-farmer beneficiaries, among others.

The legislation was reviewed and endorsed by the committees on agriculture and on laws and rules chaired by Councilor Jay R. Pascual and Ian Mark Q. Nacaya, respectively.