Secretary Proceso Alcala yesterday announced the Department of Agriculture’s allocation of P126.7 million in assistance to Negros Occidental to boost its crop production.

Alcala was in Bacolod City yesterday for the distribution of crop insurance to 1,510 of 10,000 rice farmers to be covered by the Negros First Universal Crop Insurance Program, described as a first in the country.

The DA may replicate the Negros First Universal Crop Insurance Program in other parts of the country, Alcala said, noting that it is the first time a provincial government has done so on such a large scale.

AgricultureSecretary Proceso Alcala yesterday assured the support of the Aquinoadministration for the country's bioethanol industry, and urged a shift towards the production of organic muscovado to boost the survival of the industry when tariffs on imported sugar are lifted in 2015.

"There is a future for the country's bioethanol industry," said Alcala, who was in Bacolod City for the distribution of crop insurance to rice farmers in Negros Occidental.

The push for the production of bioethenol is still on, he assured.

Consumers of Central Negros Electric Cooperative will be charged an additional P0.0709 per kilowatt hour per month effective August 1, after the Energy Regulatory Commission ordered all electric power utilities to collect the Universal Charge from all end users, CENECO president Arnel Lapore said yesterday.

The ERC on August 1 granted the provisional approval of P4,146,636,906 out of the P17,072,239,450 sought by the National Power Corporation–Small Power Utilities Group to be recovered through the Universal Charge to cover shortfalls in the Missionary Electrification subsidy for 2003 to 2009.

The ERC saw the need to provide NPC-SPUG with immediate relief so that it can continue its mission of providing electricity to the far-flung and mostly island group SPUG areas.