TYKFI’s Masaganang Palayan helps sustain rice productivity, sustainability

MANILA, Philippines — In line with its food security and distribution program, the Tan Yan Kee Foundation Inc. (TYKFI) recently distributed free palay seeds to farmers of Aritao, Nueva Vizcaya.

Each farmer received five sacks of hybrid palay seeds that can yield up to 100-110 cavans of high quality palay. The foundation also gave each farmer fertilizers to ensure his farm’s maximum yield.

Philip Sing, TYKFI’s general manager said: “We see many farmers distressed over high costs of farm inputs especially during the pandemic, so the foundation decided to continue our Masaganang Palayan Project to help ease their expenses.”

The Masaganang Palayan Project is a farmer assistance initiative conceptualized by the TYKFI in partnership with Eton Properties Philippines Inc.-Residential Leasing-Dwellings Unit. The beneficiaries of the project belong to a small farmers association from Barangay Comon and Tabueng in Aritao, Nueva Vizcaya, covering an estimated total of 10 hectares of rice land.

Under the project, TYKFI monitors production and helps the farmers market their produce at a competitive price. The project, Sing added, is in support of the agriculture sector’s goal of food productivity.

Meanwhile, the foundation also has continuing scholarship projects for farmers’ children and for students pursuing courses in agriculture and agricultural engineering. It has also built many small water impounding projects that help hundreds of farmers irrigate and sustain their farmlands.