DA pushes for 12-point agricultural agenda for 2021

MINERVA BC NEWMAN

CEBU CITY—The Department of Agriculture (DA) is pushing for a 12-point agricultural agenda and strategies to guide the way in pursuing a 2.5 percent growth for the agriculture sector in the country for the incoming year

DA secretary William Dar in his memorandum issued on January 4 to all DA executives and attached agencies and corporations, regional offices and special programs to pursue an inclusive approach with these key strategies to accelerate growth and industrialize the Philippine agriculture.

“We will vigorously pursue an inclusive approach that will cut across the strategies and involves setting up of safety net measures such as cash assistance, subsidized credit and crop insurance to directly benefit resource-poor farmers and fishers through our flagship ‘Plant, Plant, Plant’ program,” Dar said.

 The first strategy features farm clustering.  This aims to establish the ‘Bayanihan agri clusters’ (BACs) where all support services are integrated from the local and national governments for better resource management.  Partnerships with local government units (LGUs) are implemented with a Province-led Agriculture and Fisheries Extension System (PAFES).

The program involves providing support to develop one high-potential commodity for every province.  This has already been piloted in Ilocos Norte, and thereafter followed by one PAFES per region. 

Another strategy is the Agri-industrial Business Corridors (ABCs) to be undertaken by the DA this year. Like the ones being pioneered in Clark and Taguig, the ABCs will be established to serve as inter-regional and trans-national agricultural-based economic activities.

“These hubs will help elevate Philippine agriculture and fisheries from resource-dependent to industrialized to inclusive and sustainable agricultural-industrial development,” Dar stated.

 Infrastructure investments like farm-to-market roads, trading posts, fish ports, as well as post-harvest processing and cold chain facilities will be mapped out and must consider supply, markets, and climate change impacts are another vital program to pursue.

According to Dar that lessons resulting from the quarantine lockdowns last year highlighted the need for the agriculture sector to strengthen post-harvest and processing, logistics and marketing support.

He went on that DA will implement a more pro-active guidance on production schedules and monitoring supply from local production to avoid oversupply, post-harvest wastage, and depressed farmgate prices.

This supply management and monitoring shall be complemented with active engagement with traders for more timely import arrivals and the strengthening of the “Bantay Presyo Task Group” and the Anti-Smuggling Task Group, Dar added.

To realize the sector’s growth, digital agriculture strategies will also be implemented, Dar said that these include accelerating the completion of the National Farmers and Fishers Registry System (NFFRS), upscaling e-Kadiwa and using satellite technology to expand crop insurance coverage and estimates on crop damages and losses resulting from natural disturbances.

Dar bared that the agriculture sector pushes to harness ICT-enabled advisory services and vessel monitoring systems to effectively connect farmers and fishers in the regional/global agricultural value chain.

DA to continue mainstreaming PRISM as a tool to effectively manage and monitor rice production (area planted, planting dates, crop damage, production, etc.) and expand this to other crops.

The Department will also pursue the implementation of climate change adaptation and mitigation measures to involve provincial and regional climate risk maps and climate vulnerability assessments that will assist DA in deploying climate-smart varieties and promote other management practices, as well as allow farmers to adjust planting schedules, Dar said.

Included in the 12-point agenda is to establish a communication team to mount streams of information, communication and education (IEC) campaigns in close coordination with bureaus, attached agencies, and corporations within and outside of the DA network.

“We need to effectively communicate what we are doing and want to do, including possible threats, opportunities, and trade-offs,” Dar added. (Photos: DA-7)