The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) has underscored the need to encourage younger people to go into farming, hinting that the productiveness of aging farmers has declined.
Meanwhile, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. stressed the importance of implementing reforms in the agriculture sector to keep the Philippine economy robust.
DAR Undersecretary Marilyn Yap was even direct in saying aging farmers could pose a threat to the country’s food security.
Yap made the statement on the heels of the President’s enactment of a law effectively writing off P57.557 billion in unpaid loans of the farmers.
She added apart from government agencies, the private sector should also support innovations in agriculture.
Yap lamented that the agriculture sector “has been neglected for far too long.”
“The challenge is also to bring in a new generation of young farmers.
Let’s make agriculture sexy again,” Yap said in an interview with ANC.
“Young people are into data [and] technology. They can look at TikTok and all the rest of social media everyday but that is precisely the system through which we can bring in knowledge and new agriculture,” she noted.
“I think it’s time we open the gates. Pour more resources. Plot systematically with a vision for the future,” Yap said.
The new law titled “Agrarian Emancipation Act” condoned the amortization of loans, including penalties and surcharges of 610,054 agrarian reform beneficiaries tilling 1.173 million hectares of land across the country.
This law covered farmers and farm workers who received lands under Presidential Decree No. 27 and “who have outstanding loan balances payable to the Land Bank of the Philippines and to private landowners.”
Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno, downplayed the adverse effects of the loans condonation, saying it would not have any impact to the country’s fiscal picture.
Diokno has said the funds used for the law were “not part of government’s estimation of revenues.”
Over in Butuan City, Agusan del Norte, the President reiterated his commitment to put a premium on the agricultural industry to boost productivity and farmers’ livelihood.
The Chief Executive issued the statement during his visit to Kadiwa ng Pangulo stalls in Butuan.
“Whatever we do to improve the economy, if we fail to revitalize the agriculture sector, we would not be able to improve our economy and make it robust, especially now that there are lot of developments and challenges,” Marcos said.
“That is why we need to adjust. We need to have a stable agriculture sector to make all the other sectors strong),” he added.
Marcos stressed that the success of the Kadiwa program relies on the initiatives that his administration would undertake to reinvigorate the agriculture sector.
The President toured the booths and stalls of 10 Kadiwa financial grant beneficiaries and five Kadiwa retail selling basic commodities at affordable prices.
“We are prioritizing both the agricultural production and the farmers’ income. That’s very important,” he said.
Launched in November 2022, the Kadiwa ng Pangulo stores were meant to eliminate middlemen in agricultural trading, allowing food and agricultural products to be sold at lower prices. Rio N. Araja and Charles Dantes