Gov. Arthur Defensor, Jr. and the Provincial Agriculture Office headed by Dr. Ildefonso Toledo briefed the Department of Agriculture (DA) Western Visayas Regional Executive Director Dennis Arpia about the programs and projects of the Iloilo provincial government on the agriculture sector this morning.
They also discussed the implementation of various programs under the Collaborative Provincial Agriculture and Fisheries Extension Program (CPAFEP).
Gov. Defensor stressed to Director Arpia that optimizing agricultural production is part of the development thrust of the province.
He also told Dir. Arpia that his administration, through his MoRProGRes Iloilo (Movement for a Robust, Progressive, Globally-competitive, and Resilient Province of Iloilo) development agenda, is embarking on a three-year Rice Production Development Program with a budget of PhP 6.5 billion in a bid to regain the top spot in the list of rice producing provinces in the Philippines and to ensure abundant, safe and quality food for every Ilonggo.
Dir. Arpia lauded Gov. Defensor’s passion for agricultural development and vowed to support the Iloilo provincial government’s agricultural program in terms of funding and technical assistance.