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In 2020, the Philippine agriculture and fisheries sector experienced many challenges and difficulties, being one of the sectors most vulnerable to climate change and extreme weather disasters such as the series of typhoons that hit the country in the last three months of last year.
However, towards the end of the year, the government showed resistance to keep food supplies stable and available for Philippine families despite the health emergencies triggered by the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
By 2021, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said it will implement key strategies to “grow” and drive the transformation of the country’s agriculture and fisheries sector into a modernized and industrialized “economic powerhouse.”
“We will depart from our usual approach of targeting only individual farms or groups
without producing significant results of the interventions. We must have a purpose, to make sure that our programs and projects are valuable, not only to the beneficiaries, but more significantly to the whole of society in real terms, ”said Agriculture Secretary William Dar in his memo to all senior officials. DA and key technical staff. .
At the center of this strategy is the grouping and consolidation of farms, called the “Bayanihan Agri Cluster” or BAC, which aims to converge and integrate government interventions such as the provision of loans, agricultural mechanization, free seeds and fertilizers and support to the market.
Dar said that clustering farms “will allow farmers to reap more benefits from the agricultural value chain and make interventions more effective and efficient.”
He said DA will also vigorously implement systematic and inclusive approaches at the farm level next year and until the end of the Duterte administration.
“We must empower our farmers and fishermen through collective action so that they have the opportunity to partner with the different players in the industry. Leaving them alone will not accelerate the development of the sector, ”said Dar.
The agriculture chief said his department will also implement social protection and safety net measures to benefit low-income farmers, as embodied in the department’s flagship Plant Plant Plant program, in the form of cash assistance, subsidized credit and crop insurance.
In addition, the AD will also accelerate the completion of the national register of farmers and fishers in order to improve the provision of support services and other forms of interventions to eligible and deserving small farmers and fishers, according to Dar.
The establishment of Agro-Industrial Trade Corridors or ABCs will also be actively pursued in 2021. These centers will serve as processing and marketing centers for agricultural and fishery products in identified production areas. All set to go is the ABC in New Clark Green City.
Dar said the ABCs will house agricultural and multipurpose facilities that will be key to managing and integrating the food supply chain, as well as introducing innovative agricultural technology to farmers.
One of the first projects to be established at Clark ABC is the National Seed Technology Park (NSTP), which aims to develop high-yielding seed varieties to help farmers improve the level and quality of their crops. The NSTP will serve as a single hub for the seed value chain, including research and development facilities, a model seed farm and processing facility, infrastructure for skills training, experimental and commercial plots, demonstration plots and a farmers exhibition and convention. center.
Promote agro-industrialization
The DA will also intensify infrastructure investments in major agricultural production areas, including construction of farm-to-market roads, trading posts, fishing ports and processing plants.
“Agro-industrialization implies leveraging public investments with local and foreign private investors through incentives and regulations to develop the sector’s value chain,” said Dar, emphasizing the importance of a strong partnership with local government units (LGU).
To do this, he said the DA will actively seek the implementation of the province-led Agricultural and Fisheries Extension System (PAFES), which will be guided by the provincial commodity investment plan (PCIP), a three-year renewable plan developed by the DA-Philippines Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP), which seeks to streamline government interventions in commodity value chains.
Dar said the DA will also work to improve the implementation of “Agriculture 4.0”, or the so-called Fourth Agricultural Revolution, which seeks the use of smart agricultural technologies.
The DA, according to Dar, is working on using satellite technology to expand crop insurance coverage and estimate crop damage and loss due to typhoons and other natural disturbances.
The agency noted that one branch of the Covid-19 pandemic is the acceleration of the digitization of the country’s agricultural and fishing sector.
DA Kadiwa ni Ani’s digital platform in Kita’s marketing program highlighted the cost-cutting power of digital technology that directly links farmers with consumers, as well as with small and medium-sized businesses involved in processing foods.
To further develop this, Dar said DA will enhance its e-Kadiwa platform, not only connecting farmers with buyers and consumers, but also researching logistics such as renting Kadiwa trucks and refrigerated vans to transport perishable agricultural items from the farms to urban areas. Markets.
In his order, Dar urged all officials and staff to promote and integrate these strategies into field operations.
“Let’s put these core strategies into practice as we implement our various interventions.
Beyond productivity goals, we want to seek results that help consolidate the achievement of our goal of ‘masaganang ani en mataas na kita’. We have survived and restarted in 2020, now let’s grow in 2021, ”said the head of agriculture.
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