The Office of the Municipal Agriculture (OMA) distributes Palay Seeds to Farmers Association of Pilar from the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) program allocated by Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) which starts on May 27,2021 and onwards until all beneficiaries will be given their  share, the distribution is done at Bonifacio Covered Court, Pilar, Sorsogon.

     RCEF-Seed Program is an intervention of  the Department of Agriculture (DA) under Republic Act. No. 11203 otherwise known as the "Rice Tarification Law" which is an “Act Liberalizing the Importation, Exportation, and Trading of Rice , Lifting for the Purpose the Quantitative Import Restriction on Rice and for other purposes.”The law created the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) or Rice Fund to improve rice farmers competitiveness and income amidst liberalization of the Philippine rice trade policy. RCEF enables marginal rice farmers to produce more and earn more.

     Agriculture being in the forefront playing a significant role in the country’s recovery from the Covid 19 pandemic discloses a total of one thousand six hundred (1,600) Palay bags ready  to be distributed to the RCEF recipients. Beneficiaries are chosen base on the qualifications set by the program. One should be enrolled in the Registry System for Basic Sector and Agriculture (RSBSA), should be a member of the association and must be utilizing rice fields for farming located within Pilar. This hybrid Palay or RC216 yields 10% or more as these seeds have high seedling vigor, pure and uniform crop stand. It weighs 20 kilograms per bag given for  free to the local farmers for every half-hectare of cultivated area. During this time of pandemic, this program helps the rice farmers to become more globally competitive and providing families access to affordable rice.

     Moreover, it was reported that RCEF benefited qualified 11 associations of rice farmers in the municipality of Pilar.(Pilar-PIO)