DA7 expresses gratitude to the City of Talisay, Cebu for the support extended on the Brown Rice consumption campaign through a Sangguniang Panlungsod Resolution No. 2016-93.


“Focus our minds, deliver the results”.

    This was the call of Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala in a message read for him by Undersecretary Antonio Fleta at the recent DA internal budget hearing in Palawan.

    OIC Regional Executive Director Angel Enriquez shared the secretary’s message during last Monday’s flag ceremony to serve as guidepost of staff in the delivery of services to clientele.  The Director exhorted staff to heed the Secretary’s call which provide direction in agricultural development efforts.

    Following is the excerpt of the Secretary’s message:

Last two years

As President Noynoy Aquino has said, the current administration has entered the period that may be compared to the “last two minutes” of a basketball game. It is a time to give it our all. To score the necessary winning points. To avoid making serious mistakes, especially the mistake of complacency.

1.    So far, we have won major points on food staples sufficiency, especially in rice. We have drastically reduced imports in 2011, attained record palay production in 2012 and achieved 97% sufficiency during 2013 even when our country suffered most serious calamities.

We have also scored very good points for the corn, fisheries and livestock sectors.

The next scores to be made are in coconut, coffee, cacao, rubber, vegetables, fruits and spices – both for the local and the export markets.

We also face a major challenge – recovery and rehabilitation in the Visayas which we should use as an opportunity to start a fresh and “build back better.”

2.Pursuing the metaphor of games, our two important “games” are:
a)    Investment in public goods, and
b)    Growing our agri-based enterprises.
It is through these two major interventions that we will deliver major scores on inclusive growth.

Among our infrastructure interventions, our targets in irrigation are already set. We still have important assignments to complete, including the FMR road network plan that would connect all our projects to the major arteries. We also need to establish the necessary post-harvest facilities, commodity by commodity, and major trading posts.

3.The infrastructure investment is closely linked with the agri-based enterprises that will engage the farmers to earn better incomes. We need to go past the paper plans and studies, and get these enterprises going on the ground.

Once again, let us emphasize our focus high value crops: coffee, cacao, rubber, spices, vegetables and fruits. We like to talk about the great possibilities for sampaloc, jackfruit, peking duck, native pigs, achuete, siling labuyo, peanuts, monggo, paminta, and many more. In the next two years, let us do the necessary steps to produce the marcoted planting materials and the needed seeds, identify the production areas and link these with the markets and begin producing. We cannot merely dream about potentials. We need to start producing and the farmers have to start realizing the gains.

We also need to spend on preparing the farmers to participate as service providers in various undertakings like nurseries contracting to replant identified farms, contracting to do intercropping, and production of seeds and other planting materials. This is in addition to services some are already providing inland preparation, planting and harvesting.

 
4. For this, we need our Regional Managers to act as leader-managers and deploy all the resources required to achieve program results. For commodities with particular agencies involved, close coordination with the regional offices and the technical service units is essential.   Determine what you can deliver between now and 2015 while ensuring that you we do not lose sight of the long term vision of gainfully engaging the most farmers and fisheries in these commodities.


5.I ask you to clearly lay out your targets in numbers of farmers and fishers engaged, areas covered, production levels achieved, public investments for your priority commodities and the critical support services that you will deliver from 2014 to 2016.

We need to rationalize our allocation of time from planning and consultations toward implementation and results delivery. Let us assess how much time and money we spent on meetings and training and conferences in the last three years. In the next two years, let us devote more of our time and activities to results delivery by working closely with our partners and stakeholders to get those investments on the ground and deliver the critical support services on time.

 
In closing, let me thank all of you for the DA performance in 2013. May mga matinding pagsubok ang ating pinagdaanan. Sama-sama nating hinarap ang mga ito. Salamat sa ating pagtutulungan, hindi matatawaran ang resulta ng ating pagsisikap nitong nakaraang taon.

Sa simula ng ating panunungkulan, ipinangako natin na ang DA ay magiging Kagawarang maipagmamalaki natin, dahil naipakita naipadama natin ang tapat na paglilingkod sa ating mga kababayan, lalo na sa mga magsasaka at mangingisda. Kaya ang nagging unang panawagan ng Agri-Pinoy ay – “Bridge the gap. Touch the heart.” Sinundan ito ng panawagang – “Focus our minds. Deliver Results.”

Sa pagharap natin sa mga gawain at targets sa ating “last two minutes,” alalahanin natin ang mga panawagang ito.

PROCESO J. ALCALA
      Secretary

rmc el ninoRegional government offices under the umbrella of the Department of Agriculture in Region 7 recently reiterated agreed measures to mitigate the impact of El Niño should the phenomenon hit Central Visayas.

Among the agreements of the committee chaired by DA – 7 Director Angel Enriquez are synchronized planting for efficient water use in areas served by irrigation, campaign for farmers to get insurance cover for crops and farm animals, promotion of early maturing and drought resistant varieties and continued advocacy on El Nino preparedness.

Some drought tolerant rice varieties are NSIC Rc 222, NSIC Rc 192, NSIC Rc 282, NSIC Rc 288, PSB Rc 68 and NSIC Rc 9.

Also recommended is the planting of animal forage legumes such as ipil-ipil, rensonii, flemengia, stylo, and indigofera.

Farmers are also encouraged not to burn their rice straws and corn husks but to turn them into silage for animal feed, and to convert other farm wastes and byproducts into compost.

Also planned to further strengthen information dissemination efforts on El Nińo preparedness is the conduct of an information caravan in vulnerable areas in the region.

Member agencies of the council include the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS), National Food Authority (NFA), National Irrigation Administration (NIA), Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC), Agricultural Training Institute (ATI), Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS), Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA), Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), National Dairy Authority (NDA), and Philippine Carabao Center (PCC), among others. (rafis/mspt)

 

gpp retoolingAround 750 public school teachers of Negros Oriental Province attended the series of retooling on vegetable production conducted by the Department of Agriculture-7 in support to the AgriPinoy Gulayan sa Paaralan Program (GPP).

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aewIn behalf of Canlaon City Mayor Jimmy Jayme L. Clerigo, Ms. Andrea Canoy, Municipal Rice Technician of Canlaon City and one of the region’s 9 outstanding rice AEW for 2013 Agripinoy Rice Achievers Award, received the P1M prize from the Department of Agriculture last May 16, 2014. The award is supported by the project proposal “Institutional Development and Livelihood Project for Sustainable Rice Production” targeted for marginalized groups and farmer associations in 12 rice growing barangays in Canlaon City. OIC-Regional Executive Director Angel Enriquez turned over the cheque to Canlaon City in the presence of OIC-Chief Operation Division and Rice focal person Dr. Fabio Enriquez, representatives from DA Central Office Budget and Finance and Rice Program.

miguelaHer eyes were still wet with tears as we interviewed her- the loving memories of her husband who just passed away in an accident a week earlier was still fresh and keep coming back like a touched wound.

This was the agony that pierced the heart of Miguela Tinagan, widow of Region 7’s nominee for the Farm Family Category of the GawadSaka Search 2014.

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“Every cloud has a silver lining,” so the saying goes.

A metonymy to this adage is the story of Artemio ‘Temio’ Lomosbog, 72 years old, who had been farming for more than 50 years in Sagbayan, Bohol.

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BAYAWAN CITY, NEGROS ORIENTAL – Around 200 farmers, rural women and youth from the province of Central Visayas attended the 24th Regional Farm Family Congress held recently in Bayawan, Negros Oriental.
The theme of the congress was “Uswag Magpadayon: Banay nga Magmalungtaron”
According to Magna Nola Sumagang, Chief of the Institutional Development Section of the Department of Agriculture, the annual congress was aimed to enhance the skills and knowledge of rural-based organizations (RBOs) and showcase their talents through various contests like cooking, handicraft, poster making, quiz bee, extemporaneous speaking, among others.
Regional Technical Director Joel Elumba in his message said that the farming family plays a big role in the upliftment of the economy. However, he said, the agriculture sector is faced with major threats such as ageing farmers and climate change. The average age of the farmer ranges from 56 to 58 years old. Very few of the youth are enrolled in agriculture-related courses or into farming activities. Climate change, he said, is another challenge of the sector. With the right farming technologies, we can still produce the needed food for the whole populace.
Bayawan City Mayor German Sarana said the agriculture is the main livelihood in the city. While the farmers are into rice, corn, vegetable and fruits, sugarcane and livestock production, the city’s emerging crops are rubber and coffee. Marine fishing is another source of livelihood with salmon and tuna as main catch.
Carolyn Mae Daquio of the Agricultural Training Institute said that through the empowerment of the rural based organizations, there is multiplication of knowledge and division of task, among others. (C. Dela Victoria/RAFIS)

usec puyat

Agriculture Undersecretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat recently received 800 metric tons (MT) or 16,000 bags of rice donated by the Peoples’ Republic of China thru the ASEAN Plus Tree Emergency Rice Reserve (APTERR) at the National Food Authority (NFA) warehouse in North Reclamation Area, Cebu City.

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Nine agricultural extension workers of region 7 and the LGU Canlaon City were among those awarded by Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala during the honoring ceremonies for Agri Pinoy Rice Achievers Award held recently at Newport Performing Arts, Resorts World, Manila.

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