LAGAWE, IFUGAO – – Ifugao’s proven wealth of organic produce are a much better choice than its crops raised with fertilizers, herbicides and other harmful substances for ensuring adequate healthy food supplies in the long term, a key pillar of the Provincial Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources Office (PAENRO) said recently.
Catherine Buenaventura of the PAENRO said organic farmers have utilized a good portion of Ifugao’s land thus, contributing significantly to the province’s economic growth in the past years.
She also said Ifugao needs to lay out measures to boost the competitiveness of organic farmers sector in 2019 and beyond.
Buenaventura, long acknowledged as a national awardee for two times in organic farming competition in the public sector by the Department of Agriculture, pointed out the organic farming sector is expected to contribute more significantly to the economy of the province with increased yield in the remaining months of 2018 and continuing up to next year.
Buenaventura said the national government should implement the agenda and programs to improve the conditions of organic farmers, in particular, and all others in the agriculture sector, in general.
The agricultural sector is Ifugao’s biggest and provides residents their main source of income.
The output of the agriculture sector here contracted. The low productivity is easily attributed to the lack of support by the officialdom on farmers’ needs such as farm-to-market roads and communal irrigation systems. Ifugao still get rice from neighboring provinces like Nueva Vizcaya, Isabela and Quirino. Further decline in the farming economy is unthinkable for Ifugao, one of the poorest provinces in the Philippines. Lagging far, far behind Kalinga- the region’s largest rice producing province, Ifugao needs a strong performance in the agriculture industry by 2019. Buoyed by a “strong performance” and not a “dismal record” in the said industry then there is a chance to curb Ifugao’s mounting poverty woes.
Buenaventura said programs aimed at upgrading infrastructure development, expand irrigation systems, marketing and credit linkages and empower farmers organizations should be pursued by the government.
“We should continue providing assistance to our hardworking organic farmers and capacitating their organizations,” Buenaventura told the ZigZag Weekly.
During her speech at the Provincial Organic Agriculture Congress in Lagawe, Buenaventura underscored the important role of organic farmers in engaging the people through workshops, trade fairs, fora and other activities.
Speaking before a huge crowd at the said program, Buenaventura discussed the various challenges faced by organic farmers.
“I see the sense of urgency for them to take a more active part in ensuring there is nutritious and safe food at the table,” she stressed in an exclusive interview with the ZigZag Weekly.
“Leaving the organic farmers out of the equation in the decision-making process and formulation of policies on food and agriculture concerns would not be of much help to the people,” she added.
Buenaventura noted that the farming sector will be one of the major partners for change as public servants implement government policies and programs that seek to improve the quality of life of impoverished farmers and push the province towards progress and development.
As it is, the provincial government’s poverty alleviation program has produced few significant results. Most farmers are still poor. Many are not sold with the government’s approach in handling the various problems faced by farmers.
Farmers grow up uneducated and wanting of basic necessities of life. Concrete actions must be taken to restore the farmers’ sagging hopes in these difficult times. So the strategy is to reduce poverty by providing farmers opportunities to improve their plight and even diversifying their crops.
All told, life is still difficult for Ifugao farmers- organic or otherwise, most especially in remote and underserved villages. Hunger will push them to do unacceptable actions.
Buenaventura’s contributions to the PAENRO were invaluable during her tenure as acting provincial agriculturist for quite some time. It was marked by numerous accomplishments recognized by many local, provincial and national bodies.
For a period spanning more than five years, Buenaventura steered PAENRO with a strong spirit of service and sense of purpose. For her selfless work, Buenaventura has been conferred many awards and recognitions.
This achievement makes the PAENRO as one of the highly-performing offices of the Ifugao provincial government and attested to the fact that under the stewardship of Buenaventura the PAENRO has performed beyond expectations.
Failure to bring down poverty incidence in the province is likely to be considered by voters in the 2019 midterm elections. Thus, the work of well-meaning, competent and intelligent candidates comes with concomitant responsibility of explaining precisely and accurately the consequences of the inaction of officials who did not make a dent on the poverty problem in Ifugao.
During the one-day activity at the Lagawe Central School grounds, farmers shared their experiences and enlightened the public on noteworthy practices. Roslyn Montoya of Alfonso Lista, Isabel Pinkihan of Asipulo, Andres Ordillo of Banaue, Daniel Binwag of Hungduan, Evelyn Lugwen of Lagawe, Edna Norial of Lamut, Jobo Martin of Mayoyao and Elsa Licante of Tinoc gave their insights on numerous concerns of the organic farming sector.
In recollection, they introduced a number of best practices that are seen to attract more practitioners in the incoming years and certainly that are anchored on sustainability of the future for coming generations.
Board Members Noli Maguiwe of Aguinaldo and James Frederick Dulnuan of Banaue also aired their views on the vitality of organic agriculture in Ifugao. Maguiwe is the chairman of the committee on agriculture, environment and natural resources. While Dulnuan, who batted for farmers’ and their beneficiaries’ access to education and health, has repeatedly lauded farmers for their painstaking efforts in plowing the fields and planting rice and other crops and make these lands productive and it is good to see that their inspired hearts and souls are guiding them in feeding the nation. He is the chairman of the committee on education and public information.
“As we pursue real and lasting change, we should always remember that our farmers are the core of rural development strategy,” Board Member Dulnuan emphasized.
Other participants include Virgilio Barrientos, Janice Quitogan, Maricar Lobi, John Paul Dimacoli, Edel Grace Gumuwang and Jessie Flores.
Ifugao farms, many of them precariously situated in mountainsides, are extremely vulnerable to strong typhoons and seasonal monsoon rains. Ifugao is well within the country’s rain belt.
Organic farming is the most characteristic form of economic activity in Mayoyao. Folks take on organic agriculture with great enthusiasm and hope. The town’s resources are primarily agricultural and fields are fertile. Yet, most farmers are poor. They have to make the most of their meager earnings.
Organic farmers hope to eventually receive subsidies from incoming provincial government officials by 2019. The objective is to really and finally make the Organic Farming Code work for them. The landmark code was authored by then Board Member Samson Atluna of Mayoyao.
Organic farmers are also in dire need of a government financing program for the ultimate provision of a marketing agreement between them and big supermarket and restaurant chains as well as many other concrete actions to improve their competitiveness.
While organically-raised vegetables are safe to eat, the fact remains, however, that most people still turn away from buying them because their process are quite high, despite Ifugao being a province whose idle lands are plenty to be set aside for planting them in greater numbers.
What is it that farmers want the next provincial government officials to do for them?
By 2019, or about ten months from now to be more precise, the next batch of provincial government officials should truly ramp up efforts to ensure organic farmers and all others in the agriculture sector are a part of the goal of attaining inclusive growth.
All contentions are destined to end up with the inevitable conclusion that all-out support and assistance to Ifugao farmers shall provide the environment for inclusive growth. Consequently, it shall prop up its economy.
Do the constraints to the betterment of the plight of soil tillers require collective action to change the political landscape by 2019? And that can happen. Right?
That, in turn, can bring new hopes for cash-starved farmers of better times with the influx of better and more responsive officials. In a way, the quest for good governance shall be helped by dissatisfaction among the electorate. It’s quite remarkably and utterly familiar in many parts of the province.
A few of Ifugao’s leaders in the realm of the agriculture sector such as Mrs. Buenaventura deserve credit the province’s economic growth; their politicians doesn’t attract the same praise.
There’s a lot of room to address issues in so far as improvement of agricultural extension services and strengthening marketing systems and institutional development, such as the formation of agricultural producers and marketing groups.
Kiangan town, whose economy depends on farming, has suffered from erratic weather conditions in recent times. Earnings of peasants even dropped significantly. Farmers in Asipulo, Lagawe and Lamut and many other towns have no access and control of agricultural resources. Equal access to credit, extension services and information, and technology ostensibly provided by the government should be ensured at all times.
Lately, it has been observed, for instance, in Aguinaldo, Banaue and Hingyon there is a growing capacity of some farmers to raise their production level. The nagging problem, however, is the fact that government lending and bank institutions themselves are not even comfortable in extending “agriculture loans” because of the “risky” notions attached therein. Clearly, with such apprehensions, that is not the way to help cash-strapped farmers. And the solution on the part of farmers is to look for “loan sharks.”
The work of the men and women of PAENRO and other stakeholders in the public and private sectors are truly challenging with their mission of eradication of extreme poverty and promotion of food security.
Ifugao is a predominantly upland and agriculture province of the Cordillera Administrative Region. Its officials have not immensely invested on its main source of income. It might put them at odds with all who are working for a common cause. They don’t have to take chance. **By Anthony A. Araos
