The Philippines can only attain progress if it transforms the agriculture sector into a strong segment of the economy.
The Samahang Industriya ng Agrickultura said with a renewed focus on agriculture, the government would be in a better position to achieve food sufficiency.
“No country has ever developed, without first developing its agriculture sector to produce staples and the necessary raw materials, beyond what the country needs,” Sinag said.
The group said trade and the quest for international market access in terms of agricultural commodities would be positive if the country could sufficiently produce its own food and export its surplus production.
“Dependence on imports for food and other needs only exposes the country to the vagaries of the world market,” Sinag said.
The group said to achieve this, the Department of Agriculture’s budget should be significantly increased. It said the government should extend incentives and subsidies to farmers and producers at the production, post-production and marketing stages.
The department is seeking a total budget of P71 billion next year to achieve higher rice production. The budget includes the first tranche of the three-year rice productivity enhancement program which aims to achieve rice sufficiency.
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said the Rice Productivity Enhancement program pushed for a review of the water management and irrigation policies.
Piñol said the rice program would cost the government P64 billion over the next three years. The first tranche of the budget involves P31 billion.
Under the rice program, the government aims to achieve rice sufficiency by 2019.
Palay production is targeted to reach 18.517 million metric tons in 2017, 20.342 million MT in 2018 and 21.626 million MT in 2019.
“There is a need to attain rice sufficiency due to the effects of climate change because it changed the whole scene in the agriculture sector. Nobody could assure me that there will be no El Niño in the next years,” Piñol said.
President Rodrigo Duterte reduced the 2017 proposed budget by 30 percent to P50.6 billion.
Despite the lower proposed budget, Piñol assured that the government would do its best to improve the lives of Filipino farmers.
“I love challenges and with the budget given to us for 2017, I will make sure that it would be effectively spent for programs that would ensure greater food production and reduce poverty in the countryside,” Piñol said.
He said aside from focusing on achieving higher rice production, the department would also focus on producing more white corn for corn-eating provinces.
“There must be a viable program to produce more white corn to supply the grains requirements of the corn-eating provinces like Negros Oriental, Siquijor, Bohol, Cebu, Biliran, Leyte, Southern Leyte, the three provinces of Samar and Northern Mindanao,” Piñol said.
Piñol said for the livestock and poultry sector, the country would develop feed components supplies and lessen dependence on imported materials such as soya.
“For our fish and marine products sufficiency, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources is now tasked to implement a nationwide program against illegal fishing and a three-month closed season during the spawning period of the distinct fish species in the different parts of the country,” he said.
Piñol said the agency would also intensify the funding and support for the production of high-value fish species such as lapu-lapu and maya-maya.
He said for irrigation, the government would focus more on small and community-based irrigation projects rather than mega-irrigation projects.
“The DA will be introducing solar-powered irrigation facilities, especially in remote villages which are not connected to the grid to provide water not only for the rice fields but also for vegetable gardens and for drinking purposes and most of all, to provide electric power to the community,” Piñol said.
