TACLOBAN CITY — More than 1,400 rice farmers in Eastern Samar received cash grants from the Department of Agriculture (DA) this week to help recover from crop losses caused by recent floods and tropical storm "Ada."

Provincial agriculturist Virgilio Capon said 1,403 farmers from 22 municipalities each received P7,000. The funding comes from the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund-Rice Farmers Financial Assistance program.

The program provides direct aid to smallholder farmers tilling 2 hectares or less. To qualify, beneficiaries must be registered in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture.

Governor Ben Evardone said the assistance is critical following a series of weather disturbances, including a shear line and the recent tropical storm, which inundated thousands of hectares of farmland.

“The distribution of cash assistance is timely,” Evardone said, citing that the floods hit the province’s primary rice-producing hubs, including Jipapad, Maslog, Dolores, Oras, San Policarpo, Arteche and Can-avid.

In Jipapad alone, provincial disaster risk reduction officials reported that 113 hectares of newly planted rice were destroyed by flooding during the first two weeks of January.

Capon said the grants, funded by rice import tariff collections, are also intended to help farmers offset rising production costs and income shifts resulting from the Rice Tariffication Law.

Evardone told farmers during the distribution that the provincial government would continue to implement agricultural programs to improve economic conditions in the region.