DA optimistic on farm sector growth

Credit to Author: EIREENE JAIREE GOMEZ| Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2019 16:17:55 +0000

The government’s rice tariffication program, planting calendar adjustments and easy access credit program of the Department of Agriculture (DA) will likely be the main drivers of farm sector growth this year.

“An adjustment in the planting calendar for rice farmers in Northern Luzon, the ‘Southern Swing’ initiative which will identify new farming areas outside of typhoon paths, an aggressive easy access credit program, the P10 billion in tariffs from rice importation, the P10-billion Coco Levy Fund and a bigger budget allocation are expected to contribute to the robust growth of the agriculture sector, especially crops, in 2019,” Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said in a statement on Thursday.

His statement followed a report from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Wednesday that said farm sector growth hit 0.56 percent last year, significantly lower than 2017’s 3.95-percent.

Piñol said the DA was banking on the immediate release of the Rice Comprehensive Enhancement Fund (RCEF) and coco levy funds for agriculture sector to be able to bounce back this year.

For 2019, the DA has P106 billion to boost farm productivity across all regions. This was more than double the P49 billion allocated for the agency in 2018.

Pinol said the RCEF would be used for farm mechanization (P5 billion), high-yielding rice seeds (P3 billion), easy access credit program (P1 billion) and skills training (P1 billion).

The coco levy funds, on the other hand, will go to establishing village-level processing facilities, which will produce coconut by-products such as coco sugar, coco syrup and virgin coconut oil. These facilities aim to “free farmers from their dependence on copra as the main source of income,” he said.

To cope with the ill effects of climate change, the DA is also relying on the Southern Swing, which aims to focus planting on other production areas not typically hit by typhoons to lessen the volume of production loss brought by various climatic disturbances.

To accompany this, Piñol said his department will also push for the planting season to begin earlier so that harvest season would end by the second week of September.

“The DA is now coordinating with the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) to adjust the planting calendar,” Piñol said, noting that the NIA’s role on the implementation of the said initiative was “critical because the agency controls the release of the irrigation water.”

Furthermore, he said the DA’s expanded easy access credit program, implemented by its Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC), was expected to improve productivity by giving farmers and fisherfolk access to production loans. With an increased budget for this year, Piñol is hoping that the agriculture sector will bounce back and hit its 2019 growth target of 2.5-3.5 percent.

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