TABUK CITY, Kalinga – One major concern hampering the implementation of the Agriculture and Fisheries Mechanization (AFMech) Law which was enacted four years ago is the lack of professional manpower specially Agricultural Engineers in the LGUs.
Agricultural Engineer Ariodear Rico, the chairman of the Board of Agriculture and Biosystems Engineering of the Professional Regulations Commission who was here last week as guest of honor of the 1st Cordillera Farmers’ Summit cum Agri Machinery Roadshow, informed that as of the moment, only 70 percent of the provinces have Agricultural Engineering Divisions while only 10 percent of the municipalities have created the division.
Rico said that with the devolution and the manpower of the Department of Agriculture (DA) limited to the regional offices, the DA is forced to work with the LGUs in the implementation of national programs.
He said that this is unfortunate because the services of Agricultural Engineers are needed in the design, manufacture, quality testing, maintenance and registration of farm machineries and in the construction of agricultural structures such as irrigation systems and farm to market roads, two major purposes of the AFMech Law.
Rico said that to address the problem of substandard machineries available in the market and being given out by the government and agencies, one of the concerns which prompted the passage of the law, farm machineries being sold are subject to theAgricultural Machinery Testing and Evaluation Center (AMTEC) if what is advertised is borne out by the field performance.
“Because of this need, the DA (Department of Agriculture) is now accrediting Agricultural Engineers as testing engineers. To ensure the quality of machineries based on standard performance is a function of the Agricultural Engineering Division,” Rico said adding that only licensed Agricultural Engineers are qualified to do the testing.
Rico said that under the AFMech Law, farm machineries will also be registered with the LGUs to identify owners, prevent duplication in the case of government grants, for data base purposes and security of ownership.
“The registration of farm machineries is a function of the Agricultural Engineering Division,” Rico said.
He also said that Agricultural Engineering Division is tasked to monitor compliance to the provision of the law for farm machinery manufacturers to provide warranty and after sale services for their products.
In his speech in the farmers’ summit, Rico said that the low income of municipalities and the low priority being given to agriculture in terms of the allocation of the IRA are also constraints in engaging the services of Agricultural Engineers.
Rico revealed that to help solve the problem, they have proposed a Deployment Program of Agricultural Engineers to 4th to 6th income class municipalities with the salaries to be paid by the DA.
Rico who has been going around the country advocating the creation of the division among LGUs since the enactment of the law met with Tabuk City Human Resource Management Officer Jephte Feken and City Agriculturist Julibert Aquino to convince them to recommend for the creation of the Agricultural Division in the city.
The two officials promised they will propose the creation of the division.
Through the recommendation of Provincial Agriculturist Domingo Bakilan, an Agricultural Engineer, the Kalinga LGU enacted an ordinance creating the division last year making it one of only two LGUs in the Cordillera which have established the sought for division with the other being Ifugao province.**By Estanislao Albano, Jr.
