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The
governors, led by LPP national president Gov. Leo Ocampos,
national chairman Gov. LRay Villafuerte, and secretary-general
Gov. Ben P. Evardone, in a photo opportunity with Agriculture
Sec. Arthur C. Yap after the signing of the MOA for
the secondment of local agricultural extension workers
to the DA in the next 18 months for the rice sufficiency
program. |
DA
gets League support for rice sufficiency program
Officials
of the Department of Agriculture, led by Sec. Arthur C. Yap,
met with the governors in a special general assembly last
May 13 to harness the latter’s support behind the DA’s
Rice Self-Sufficiency Plan and craft action programs in their
respective provinces and municipalities supportive of government
plans to make the Philippines 98% self-sufficient in the staple
by 2010.
Given
that this self-sufficiency blueprint for 2008-2010 adopts
the “clustering approach” in lieu of being carried
out on a large yet unfocused scale, Sec. Yap said the support
of governors and mayors behind this grand plan will prove
indispensable for the remainder of the Arroyo presidency.
The
clustering technique, which has been tried and tested under
the DA’s Ginintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA) Rice Program,
will require the active involvement of LGU executives, most
especially in extension and monitoring work, he said.
“One big problem in agriculture is that we at the DA
feel like generals without troops because all the technicians
and all the agricultural workers have been devolved to the
LGUs. So, I need to find a way to cooperate and work with
them (agricultural workers and technicians) through our local
officials,” Sec. Yap pointed out.
“This
DA-LGU partnership is crucial to the self-sufficiency plan,”
he said, “because this medium-term program’s success
on the ground will depend on the cooperation of LGUs.”
Yap
said this self-sufficiency plan, which the DA will pursue
jointly with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)
over the next five years, is similar to previous palay production
programs because of its focus on irrigation, technology, extension
services and credit support for farmers. “But it can
be considered different from the past palay production programs
owing to this envisioned greater involvement of local executives,”
he added.
Also, he said, this plan could be considered unique in four
areas: scope, advances in current rice technology, funding
commitment and management approach. Yap said, but similar
to past intensified rice production programs because it focuses
on irrigation, technology, extension services and credit support
for farmers.
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The MOA detailing
local agricultural extension workers to the DA approved
during the LPP Special General Assembly on May 13, 2008. |
LPP
national chairman and Camarines Sur Gov. Luis Raymund F. Villafuerte
Jr. and Occidental Mindoro Gov. Josephine Sato, have
earlier expressed their support for Pres. Gloria Macapagal-
Arroyo’s P43.7-billion program for Philippine agriculture
dubbed FIELDS as well as the DA’s pro-poor project to
tap LGUs in distributing state-subsidized rice to consumers
in depressed barangays.
FIELDS,
which President Arroyo laid out during the DA-hosted National
Food Summit last April 4, refers to the six areas of support
where Malacañang will infuse its P43.7 billion funding
assistance for agriculture over the next three years. These
are Fertilizers, Irrigation and other rural infrastructure,
Education and training for farmers, Loans, Dryers and other
postharvest facilities and Seeds of the high-yielding varieties.
Yap
had pointed out that the rice self-sufficiency plan “promises
a greater chance for accomplishment” because of President
Arroyo’s commitment to frontload a significant amount
of financial resources for this agenda via her FIELDS program.
Recently,
Pres. Arroyo witnessed the signing by Yap and IRRI Director-General
Robert Ziegler of a Memorandum of Agreement committing the
DA and IRRI to join forces over the next five years in implementing
the rice self-sufficiency program.
This self-sufficiency program was drawn up by the DA with
the support of seven ex-DA secretaries; two former science
and technology chiefs; two previous administrators of the
National Food Authority (NFA); former and incumbent executives
and scientists of IRRI, the Philippine Rice Research Institute
(PhilRice) and the University of the Philippines in Los Baños,
Laguna (UPLB); and other farm experts from the private sector.
In terms of scope, Yap said the DA has included in this Plan
not only irrigated lands, but rainfed lowland rice fields
as well, which means “an increase in the program area
from 1.4 million hectares to 4 million hectares per year—the
entire harvested palay lands in the Philippines.”
This
Plan also calls for the establishment for the first time ever
of a national postharvest program, through the distribution
of community-based flatbed dryers and drying centrals that
seek to check the more than 5% in annual postharvest wastages
or losses, he said.
In
terms of technological advances, Yap said the Plan will enable
farmers to access seeds that will not only let them reap more
than 180 cavans per hectare during the dry season, but are
also more tolerant to pests and diseases, flooding and dry
spells.
Yap said the self-sufficiency plan, which the DA will pursue
jointly with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI),
is similar to previous palay production programs because of
its focus on irrigation, technology, extension services and
credit support for farmers.
This blueprint, however, can be considered different from
the past palay production programs, he said, owing in part
to the envisioned greater involvement of local executives.
Also,
he said, this plan could be considered unique in terms of
scope, advances in current rice technology, funding commitment
and management approach. (DA).
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