The Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Oriental Mindoro Provincial Local Government Unit (LGU) launched the Province-led Agriculture and Fisheries Extension Systems (PAFES) in Bongabong on September 24, 2021.
Agriculture Secretary William Dar and Oriental Mindoro Governor Humerlito Dolor signed the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for the PAFES implementation that will strengthen the collaboration of DA and LGUs including the academe and the private sector.
“There is co-planning, co-investment, and co-monitoring and evaluation para mas marami tayong magagawa. Lahat itong collective action or the development of institutions at the local level ay isa sa mga key strategies na inilalatag at iniimplementa ng DA,” Secretary Dar said on PAFES, which supports the enhanced implementation of the Devolution Act.
Through PAFES, the province will serve as an extension hub that synchronizes agricultural plans and programs as well as orchestrate the activities of the various stakeholders to bring extension services to the grassroots level.
Secretary Dar announced that PAFES will be implemented nationwide starting next year and farmers’ cooperatives and associations with consolidated farms will be prioritized for interventions coming from the national and local governments.
He said farm consolidation is another key strategy of DA with the objective of empowering stakeholders to reduce production costs, gain more benefits from the agriculture value chain, and direct interventions to achieve economies of scale.
“The Mindoro Island, much more Oriental Mindoro, will be critical and will become more important to produce not just what is needed by the province but also the surplus production of Oriental Mindoro can be marketed in Metro Manila. The farmers will have more profits at the end of the day, and the DA will help provide whatever is necessary to make that vision possible like the trading centers and postharvest facilities,” the agri chief said.
He also recognized the effort of the provincial and municipal LGUs of Oriental Mindoro in maintaining the province’s African swine fever (ASF)-free status.
Governor Dolor shared that the province has enough food supply and even traded significant volumes of rice and hogs to Metro Manila and other regions. He added that the provincial LGU’s priority is ensuring food security and discussed its agriculture programs and recovery plan.
During the event, Secretary Dar announced that the OneDA family has committed P790.142-million worth of agri-fishery interventions for the Province of Oriental Mindoro in 2021.
The total includes P560.94 million from the DA-Mimaropa Regional Field Office, P43.325 million from the Agricultural Credit Policy Council, P26.145 million from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, P4.438 million from the National Dairy Authority, P3.4 million from the Philippine Coconut Authority, and P151.892 million from the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization. ### (Gumamela Celes Bejarin, DA-AFID)
