by anyajulia | Oct 13, 2008 | Headlines, Local News / Bohol Balita, National News
PLUGGING a leak caused by the intricacies of devolution and the allegations of fund mismanagement by local authorities in the government program implementation, the Department of Agriculture (DA) has molded a national task force to monitor implementation of President Arroyo’s flagship Ginintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA) programs for rice and corn.
Arguing for the country’s food sufficiency program, Secretary Yap hopes that through his special order, the government can now ensure the efficient use of public funds and resources for these food security initiatives.
Sec Yap, who is expected in Bohol next week for the World Food Day and Rice Festival set October 16, earlier said by creating 4 teams through Special Order No. 380, the government expects a roving team checking on various aspects of the implementation of the GMA Rice and Corn Programs.
THE COUNTRY’S FOOD SECURITY manager DA Secretary Arthur Yap is expected here in Bohol this week to keynote on the dual activities set October 16, Thursday. (PIA)
On the other hand, the FIELDS Coordinating Team develops the components’ master plans and oversees their respective implementation.
The Field Mobilization Group monitors the implementation at the regional, provincial and municipal levels.
Meanwhile, the Strategic Policy and Advocacy Support Team, private sector and academic experts provide strategic advice on policy and advocacy concerns to help successfully attain the goals of the GMA Rice and Corn Programs, Yap said. (PIA)
by Misael | Jun 2, 2008 | National News
SA padayong kanihit sa bugas humay, ang pagpatanum ug mais aron ikahulip sa panginahanglan sa pagkaon ug dugang kita sa mga mag-uuma maoy gitutukan sa Department of Agriculture (DA) karon.
Kini samtang namatikdan nga duna nay maayo nga marketability sa mais, kong itandi sa kamatis ug patatas nga kanhi maoy gipatanum.
Mokabat na sa P11.50 ngadto sa P12 ang matag kilo sa mais, kompara sa P7 ang kilo nga palit kaniadto.
Sa pagpalapad sa programa alang sa yellow corn, misanggi ang nasud sa dugang 2 milyones ka metriko toneladas nga mais sa milabay nga unang 3 ka buwan.
Kini butyag ni Agriculture Undersecretary for Field Operations Dennis Araullo, kinsa mao usay coordinator sa National Corn Program (NCP).
Dugang niya, napalapad ngadto sa 5.36% ang maisan sa nasud ug kadaghanan niini gitamnan sa hybrid nga yellow corn.
Sa padayong pagpalapad sa programa, laing P325 M ang gikinanhanglan sa NCP alang sa 75 mil hektaryas nga yuta nga tikaron alang sa maisan.
Kon magsubra ang produksyon, ang mais karon mao na unyay ibaligya sa gawas alang sa bio-fuel. Nahibaloan nga ang usa ka tonelada nga mais maghatag ug 380 ka litros nga bioethanol
Hinuon, miangkon ang DA nga suliran pa gihapon ang pagpangita sa linsok alang sa puti nga mais nga maoy gigaling aron ihulip sa humay isip staple sa mga taga Visayas ug Mindanao. (rachiu/PIA)
by admin | Apr 26, 2008 | Features
SHIFTING to high yielding varieties of rice from the traditional varieties can spell so much difference for farm yield, assures a top agricultural technology promotion officer in Bohol.
“Once a farmer uses the high yielding varieties in his seeds, there would be an incremental increase in his production per unit area” Engr. Eugene Cahiles, of the the Bohol Agricultural Promotion Center bared at the weekly Kapihan sa PIA Thursday.
This as he underscored that the seed shift alone raises rice production dramatically so Bohol could quickly respond to the goal of rice sufficiency.
“Even without altering production factor other than a shift to either high yielding hybrid or at least certified rice seeds, a farmer can get more than half his usual yield, he claimed.
The difference, Bohol Provincial Agriculturist Liza Quirog pointed out is a matter of 72 bags of rice per hectare compared to his usual 48 bags yield per hectare for hybrid rice.
The two top agriculture officials in Bohol appeared at the weekly forum aired live over DYTR to elucidate on the government initiatives in responding to the rice shortage, which the country feels at present.
Both also agree that the problem is not that alarming in Bohol, which is able to produce almost 80 thousand metric tons and continuing to reap some 99 thousand metric tons by June of next year.
Data from the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics bared that Bohol’s rice sufficiency is still about 83%, meaning the province’s farmers have been able to produce about 83% of its total rice consumption.
The data also pushed Governor Erico Aumentado to issue a rice shipment regulation so as not to deplete local rice stocks and therefore allow the province to keep a buffer for local consumption.
The regulation, Quirog explained is based on the data from the previous bulk of the province’s regular trading, not more than that.
To quickly recoup the production setback, Cahiles added that “by expanding the production area using certified seeds and hybrid seeds, Bohol could be more rice sufficient.
From 1900 bags of hybrid rice planted by farmer adoptors last year, Cahiles said the APC is on to a 5,000 bags distribution target for irrigated as well as rain-fed lands this year.
Bohol has about 47, 376 hectares of ricelands, only about 21,000 hectares are irrigated while most at 26,000 are rainfed. Now we are also focusing on how to make rainfed areas productive as well, he said.
Quirog quickly followed on as she pointed that land development in areas covered by Bayongan Dam is ongoing.
She reported that 2,000 hectares would be operational this year, while the rest [of the areas would be operational] in the near future.
This as the national and the provincial government has poured in roughly P37M and P13.786M to sustain the goal of making Bohol 100% rice sufficient by 2010, Engr Cahiles added.
According to Quirog, the provincial Government through the Sangguniang Panlalawigan presiding officer and Agriculture Committee chair Vice Governor Julius Caesar Herrera approved the P13.7M. twice as much as the 6.4M allocation for the Bohol Seed Assistance Program.
Adding to the lady agriculturist’s statements, Cahiles said the national government is pakcing up a bag of interventions in the rice crisis, as he cited the President’s pronouncements at the recent national food summit.
He said the government allocated P43.7B for Fertilizers, Irrigation facilities, Education and training, Loans, Driers and other post harvest facilities and seeds subsidies.
The package encompasses the most extensive government intervention to sustain the growth of the rice industry in the country, Cahiles added. (rachiu/PIA)
by admin | Apr 22, 2008 | Features
CONTRARY to the belief that Bohol is rice sufficient, the province still needs P13.786M to attain full rice sufficiency in two years, a technical working group (TWG) tasked to make develop Bohol agriculture said.
For this, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan led by Vice Governor Julius Caesar Herrera Tuesday passed the appropriations to satisfy a request from Governor Erico Aumentado for Bohol to put up key mobilization fund for Bohol’s Rice Accelerated Enhancement Response (RacER).
RacER is recommended by the TWG.
The TWG, composed of former Department of Agriculture regional technical director Dr. Jose Quitazol, Provincial Agriculturist Liza Quirog, Agricultural Promotions Center Manager Eugene Cahiles, National Food Authority’s Nestor Rey Alcoseba, Bohol Poverty Reduction and Management Officer Antonieto Pernia, Provincial Environment Officer Eduardo Inting, Irrigation Officer Modesto Membreve and still some unnamed technical men recommended the amount to be taken from the Provincial Government cash boxes to improve agriculture here.
Of the amount however, only the P1400 revolving fund subsidy for each bag of hybrid of rice seeds that go to irrigators associations and technical trainings, seminars would go directly to the farmers. The rest covers incentives to technologists, rice technicians, municipal agriculture officers and coordinators.
Many critics and farmers openly said “this is disheartening.”
“While the technicians get salaries from the government, it is us who are asked to produce so the best farmers should be the one’s getting the incentives, not them,” a farmer who asked not to be named, complained.
The complaint also goes in line with Hongkong Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) stand on subsidies which it said is perhaps politically opportune, [are] but hardly the answer to the current rice woes.
On subsidies, HSBA said “it would have perverse impacts, by prolonging the adjustment process that is required.” The bank recommended instead, for farmers to be given more incentives for improved production.
RACER
RAcER, as adopted by Bohol, sets to motion multi-component approaches to food sufficiency, reports said.
Racer attempts to address the remaining 17% gap in the province’s rice sufficiency, which now only amounts to a little over 82%, data from form the Office of the Provincial Agriculture stated.
Meanwhile, in the country, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has committed P43.7 billion to the agricultural sector to ensure an “abundant, affordable and accessible” food supply.
The amount will be used to fund the administration’s “FIELDS” program.
FIELDS stands for fertilizers, infrastructure and irrigation, extension and education, loans, drying and other post-harvest facilities, and seeds.
Moreover, she instructed government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) and government financial institutions (GFIs) to allocate five percent of their 2007 budget surplus for projects in rice production, low-cost consumer and medicine outlets, Philhealth and micro-finance.
The president issued this via Administrative Order No. 1, dated April 1 and mandating all projects to be started not later than July.
In addition, the DA shall “draw up a plan to utilize idle lands for rice and other food production, consulting with Senator Edgardo Angara who has advocated additional cultivation of one million hectares.”
Rice shipment regulation
Days ago, the governor issued an executive order regulating rice shipment out of Bohol in efforts to curb indiscriminate selling of milled rice and palay outside Bohol.
The order was effected to avoid draining local rice stocks especially with the onset of the lean seasons in July to October, aside from discouraging hoarding, thus depleting local supplies.
The governor however said it is palliative solution to the problem.
Seed subsidy
Aside from putting the recent rice shipment regulation as key Racer component, the government taps irrigators’ associations whose farmers agree to be trained on hybrid rice cultivation for the Bohol Seed Assistance Program (BSAP).
BSAP uses hybrid rice adopters, whom the DA subsidizes P1500 of the P2900 bag of seeds they grow, while the farmers shell dip from their pockets the remaining amount.
But now, instead of the farmers paying the remaining amount, the Provincial government subsidizes the P1400.
Farmers in the program pay to their associations only after harvest, all to ease their burdens from the low yielding rice seeds.
Levying heavier taxes on arable idle lands
As Vice Governor Julius Caesar Herrera suggested, the province is now into expanding agricultural production areas by raising higher taxes to idle but arable lands.
Herrera, who sits as SP Agriculture Chair also added that Boholanos could go producing other alternative food crops, common rice substitutes.
Citing the Local Government Code, the governor said idle lands can be subjected to 5% more realty taxes, while adding that the government can also forfeit uncultivated lands in favor of a private entity who would be willing to invest in it.
Expanding rice and corn fields
He said he already met with mayors on the expansion of rice and corn fields’ hectarage, one he foresees to add another thousand hectares by the year-end.
Te governor also said he has instructed NIA Engr. Modesto Membreve to fast-track the land leveling program at the BHIP 2 service area while water in the Bayongan Dam is still available.
He has also told agriculture technicians to determine areas only with slopes of between 12-18 degrees for biofuel production, those with 18 degrees for endemic trees to maintain biodiversity. (rachiu/PIA)
