The national government is doing its best to help the farmers attain higher yield and get bigger profits in the process. Specifically in rice. That’s good news. After all, the mantra of the current DA is: Masaganang Agrikultura, Maunlad na Ekonomiya Some of its currently running assistance programs are related to the use of biofertilizers, distribution of hybrid seeds, and provision of soil ameliorants such as those zinc-containing materials. The biofertilizers being procured for the farmers have undergone the requisite fertilizer derbies at the national or regional levels. The hybrid seeds are really of the excellent type of varieties.
Is there any not-so-good news in relation to that? Yes, there is. Since July of this year, I have been in 3 provinces in Panay island, and visited at least 25 towns in the provinces of Iloilo, Antique and Capiz. As is, the government program currently being implemented is really commendable, based on what I saw in those provinces and in some provinces as well in Luzon.
The government is partnering with companies having new technologies already proven of their potential benefits. The companies are expected to provide technical support to the beneficiaries during the growing season. That is the way to go, I also firmly believe in that.
There is some breakdown though in the process of implementation. The government is providing seeds of excellent rice varieties of both hybrid and inbred, to some farmers in all provinces of Region VI, for example. Not all farmers though are direct beneficiaries of the program. They are selected based on a set of criteria established for the purpose.
The seeds are complemented by other inputs like organic fertilizers, biofertilizers, zinc-containing ameliorants, and the usual synthetic fertilizers. Those are inputs that are really vital to rice production, or any crop production endeavor for that matter.
Companies concerned provided the quantities required for the involved farmers. Deliveries of inputs, including seeds, were not always on time. That is, the period of delivery though it might be in accordance with established government rules, is not in accordance with the planting time of the farmers. In the process, the distribution of the other inputs was also delayed causing problems.
Apparently, the coordination among the government agencies or units involved in the programs needs a lot of improvement. The biofertilizers, hybrid seeds and soil ameliorants are sometimes integral part of a program. The absence of one of the said inputs therefore could mean the inefficient, therefore failure, of the program. The untimely deliveries for instance, could derail proper planting time or prevents the application of the production input as it could already be too late.
The municipal agriculture offices are involved in the programs they, being the implementers. In some cases, municipal agriculturists who are not in the loop make things even more difficult by insisting to use their own system of dispensing the products instead of following instructions for the regional offices. For example, at least 2 MAs, in their desire to help as many farmers as possible, distributed biofertilizers intended for one farmer, to as many as 6 or more farmers. That will definitely make such biofertilizer appear ineffective when applied.
Many of the farmers themselves fail to read or consider the protocols given them on the planting or application of the products, especially the biofertilizers. They mix the biofert with synthetic chemical inputs destroying its content of living organism. The supplying company maybe partly at fault here. Additional orientation for users may have been necessary but was not done for some reason
With the above, the assistance programs are in peril of derailment. And we are not even talking about the possible occurrences of natural calamities.
Last Nov 11, 2024, DA Sec Francisco Tiu Laurel, admitted that he was not so satisfied with how he is running the department because of so many challenges-naturally imposed or otherwise.
But he hastened to add: “No more excuses for me, no more excuses for us”
To concretize that, the Secretary was talking of transform growth of the agric sector for the 3rd quarter by about 3.7%. Real challenges Mr. Secretary on your lap. Incidentally, I attended a farmers’ day at Sta Barbara, Iloilo last Nov 15, where members of several farmer associations in the town were in attendance. The mayor and other official stook turns in painting a positive and a negative scenario for the town. It might as well be true to other towns in the country. They were talking not about food security but safety too, November being a food safety
awareness month. Definitely they were on target discussing about the UN’s sustainable development goals which should be embraced by the town. The farmers and others should have an enterprising mindset. True, but how will it be done? What is very worrying is the fact that the town has now only 29% of its land area devoted to agriculture. Yet, they were talking about food security.
Of course, the town mayor reported a very good idea being concretized by them. Many of the idle lands in the town are now presently used to produce food, contributing to food security. They made this possible through a municipal ordinance and making agreements with the owners of those lands. Calling the attention of all LGUs to craft a similar ordinance.**
