By Danilo P. Padua, PhD
Bugoy was so profuse in praising Cordillera farmers. He is proud of the Cordillerans, as exemplified by the farmers. According to him, he always unfailingly cite them whenever he goes around to meet farmers outside of the region.
Bugoy, who speaks fluent Ilocano, is the name given him by his friends and folks in Mindanao. He is the former governor of North Cotabato. A self-made man, he is presently sitting atop an important department which many regard as a political tool. He is Manny Piñol, the Secretary of Agriculture.
And the reason why he praises Cordi farmers no end? It is their honesty, sense of responsibility and accountability in handling their loans from the government. They were entrusted with PhP46.0M loan for various agricultural purposes, which they repaid in full.
All of these were clearly manifested during the recent “Biyaheng Bukid” of Sec. Piñol to Benguet. Biyaheng Bukid is a DA program meant primarily to help farmers in the poorer provinces in the country. He is undoubtedly putting a premium to the region on this trip. Aside from presiding over the board meeting of the Benguet Agri-Pinoy Training Center, he also opened an exhibit where the first TienDA in Norther Luzon was done.
Before the TienDA, there was also a demo on drone technology spraying by a team from Japan. The most important activity was the Farmer’s Forum where Sec. Piñol made important concessions to the local farmers.
Because of the 100% repayment of the initial PhP46.0M agri-loan, Piñol was prompted to add another PhP50.0M to the credit line of Cordi farmers. This is a welcome development and our farmers should continue the good foundation that they had built. It pays to do what is expected of somebody, especially on money matters. Kudos to the Cordi farmers for their careful handling of government money.
I think the farmers showed such trustworthiness because they sense the sincerity and similar trustworthiness of the Secretary. One could readily see those characteristics of the Secretary as he speaks in public. He shows candor, care for the farmers and fisherfolks, sincerity, and decisiveness. Bugoy is showing how to perform good service for the people.
“Basta huwag nakawin ang pera, maraming pera para sa mga farmers, at makakarating ito sa kanila”, matter-of-factly stated by the Secretary. With the approaches that they are putting in place, he is trying to minimize political interference so the farmers could benefit more. I say bravo to that.
True to his word, Piñol went on to announce gifts to qualified farmers, farmer organizations, or farmer cooperatives. Those to be distributed free included tractors, cultivators, power sprayers, plastic crates, plastic sheets, water pumps, greenhouses, planting materials of potato, and a lot more. More expensive ones like reefer van, catchment/impounding dam, farm to market roads were also included.
With those coming support, it is expected that the lot of many local farmers should improve by leaps and bound. Also, it is hoped that malpractices such as making “bomba” of potato in sacks will become a thing of the past. Otherwise, the farmers do not deserve to be heaped the accolade of being trustworthy and responsible.
The credit line announced by Sec. Pinol signals a favorable climate for crop production and food security. The poor farmers and fisherfolks have now easier access to financing due to the establishment of the DA’s Agricultural Credit Policy Council thru its Production Loan Easy Access (PLEA), which was opened last year.
The access to such financing could benefit a lot of farmers in the entire country as provincial loan facilitation offices are planned to be opened in all provinces with substantial farming activities. Benguet already has one, based at the BAPTC in La Trinidad.
The TienDA is meant to connect various regions and allows exchanges of goods to be sold. The one at BAPTC is said to be the second one in the country after it started in Central Luzon. That in itself, is an honor for the province. It was participated in by farmers/fisherfolks from Pangasinan, Davao, Soccsargen, Mtn. Prov., La Union, Region III, and others. Fish and fruits were the initial products that were brought in.
I bought some fish from La Union and fruits from Davao but I was surprised of their very high prices. They were even much higher than similar ones in the Baguio market. If this activity is to succeed, they must find a way to lower the prices.
The drone technology demonstration of spraying pesticides is an off-shoot of an on-going trial organized by the Bureau of Plant Industry in tandem with DMM.COM company of Japan. It started last week of March and ends in June, 2018. It is being conducted at a potato farm in Buguias Seed Farm. The cost of the trial is mostly under company’s expense.
The initial plan according to the Japanese experts, was to try it on rice as the technology is popularly used on the crop in Japan. Why potato instead? It is because BPI as the partner desires to test it in a terrain like we have in Cordi and consequently, to help our farmers.
Talking to Wael Bazid and Ken Hosoya (the Japanese experts), and Efren Lorenzo (their Filipino business partner) they told me that the drone technology has so many advantages over the traditional way. It saves a lot of time as it requires only one minute to spray 1,000sq.m. It requires only 10li. water compared to 200li for the conventional; very efficient; more equitable in the amount of pesticides that plants receive; safer for people; less costly, saves on labor, and spares one the difficult task of traversing terraces.
The drone is equipped with camera that could detect where insects are and therefore can tell where to spray.
There are problems though that must be taken into consideration in using the drone technology. There is the cost of the drone itself. There is also the issue of permits to use from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, the training of “pilot” and other certifications. All of which, save for the cost of the drone, are not difficult to solve.
The plan was for the experts to try the technology on 1,000 hectares of rice in the lowlands after the Buguias trial. Immediately recognizing the advantages of the drone technology for the local farmers, Sec. Pinol however was quick on the draw. He changed the game plan. He announced that the DA will finance the drone spraying of 5,000 hectares of vegetable farms in Benguet! The Japanese had to re-plan accordingly. And the benefits from the DA continues to pour in.
I believe that the drone technology of spraying chemicals is very suitable and viable for Cordillera’s physiography.The adoption of it should result in lower cases of respiratory and heart-related diseases, decreased production inputs, increased product quality, increased profit and less dangerous to the environment. It might even attract the younger generations to stay put or return to the farms.**
