Agriculture Secretary William Dar plans to expand agriculture by as much as 3 percent to 5 percent before his three-year term ends.
Dar also enjoined all local government units and provincial governments to support the activities and projects of the department.
He stressed the role of the local government units that are at the frontline in serving the agriculture and fisheries sector.
He assured local chief executives that the department would provide incentives to provinces that strengthen their agricultural extension systems.
The World Bank has already committed $500 million to implement the Provincial Agriculture and Fisheries Extension Systems, he said.
“This time around, let us make the province-led Agriculture and Fisheries Extension Systems work,” Dar said
The “One Province, One System” agricultural extension approach, which also includes cities and municipalities, serves as a strategy to address the lack of agricultural extension workers and slow transfer of technologies in the provinces.
