Aritao, Nueva Vizcaya — Agriculture Secretary William Dar graced the Onion Harvest Field Day cum Information Caravan at Barangay Nagcuartelan here on Friday (March 18).
Congratulating the Federation of Aritao Farmers of Onion, Garlic, Ginger Growers Association (Fafoggga) for their successes, Dar said this only proves the effectivity of crop rotation, that after rice, onion is planted.
“It also proves the efficiency of clustering and consolidation. Under the ‘OneDA’ reform agenda, let us be committed in the attainment of a food secure country,” Dar said in his keynote address.
Fafogga started as a small group of farmers tilling rice fields and now have a consolidated area of 1,500 hectares of land, with 800 hectares utilized for rice cluster farming.
Ulysses de Lara, Fafogga president, said the demo farm is two hectares and showcases rice-onion-rice crop rotation.
During the event, Dar also announced that the Department of Agriculture (DA) launched the “Plant, Plant, Plant Program Part 2” (PPPPP2) during the opening program of the National Women’s Month on March 7, 2022.
“This is part of the proactive measures of the Philippine government to mitigate and cushion the effects of the global economic challenges including the Ukraine crisis while boosting local food production,” he said
During the expanded Cabinet meeting last week in Malacañang, President Rodrigo Duterte approved the Department of Agriculture’s recommendations including the flagship program on food security with a budget of P24 billion, according to Dar.
To be implemented nationwide, the PPPPP2 components include fertilizer subsidy initially amounting to P12 billion but increased by Duterte to P20 billion; urban and peri-urban agriculture amounting to P1 billion; local feeds production with P1 billion; aquaculture and mariculture fisheries with P1 billion; and food mobilization with another P1-billion budget.
Also approved by President Duterte were the recommendations to realign the 2022 DA budget, and additional government financing through the Land Bank of the Philippines and Development Bank of the Philippines for concessional loans extended to provincial local government units (LGUs) for palay (unmilled rice) procurement and rice buffer stocking.
Also approved were the transfer of the oversight function over the National Irrigation Authority back to the DA for better water management and crop scheduling, and distribution of the legislated P500-million fuel subsidy to corn farmers and fishers.
Dar explained that the rice farmers are not included as they will each receive another round of P5,000 in financial assistance with a budget of P8.9 billion, representing excess rice tariff collections in 2021. The beneficiaries are those tilling two hectares and below or the same as those in the past two years.
Addressing the Ukraine crisis
During the launching of the PPPPP2, Dar also encouraged the OneDA family to continue their hard work and elevate their service to the public, and emphasized the program will help address the current economic challenges exacerbated by the Russia-Ukraine crisis.
Dar said these challenges include the disruption of the global supply chain, high logistics costs, high fuel prices, climate change impacts, presence of transboundary diseases, and Philippine exports to Russia getting affected with the net result of increased food prices driving high food inflation.
Nueva Vizcaya Rep. Luisa Lloren Cuaresma farmers should not lose hope as the government is doing its best to uplift the lives of people in the countryside, adding the government through Dar knows their plight.
Meanwhile, this town’s mayor Remelina Peros Galam said the “Panagsisibuyas Fiesta” was made even nobler because of the cohesive unity of the farmers.
Carol Albay, HVC Regional Program focal person, said P29 million worth of agricultural projects such as cold storage and a trading post were awarded to the local government here.
“This will surely bolster the productivity of the farmers in this town,” Albay said.
Dar was with Assistant Secretary for Strategic Communications Noel Ocampo Reyes and National Program Director for High Value Crops, Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture Dr. Glenn Panganiban. (Leander C. Domingo)
SOURCE: https://www.manilatimes.net/
