Aggie Trends April 2009

8/2/2019 Aggie Trends April 2009

1/12

Vol. XXIV No. IV A Monthly Publication of the Department of Agriculture April 2009

(Pls turn to p10)

A strange hybrid of pig, bird andhuman flu virus has emerged inMexico and the United States, andin nine other countries.

The World Health Organization(WHO) in its website said the situ-ation continues to evolve rapidly thatas of 1700GMT, 30 April 2009, 11countries have officially reported

257 cases of Influenza A (H1N1) in-fection.

The US has reported 109 labora-tory confirmed human cases, withone death, while Mexico has re-ported 97 confirmed human cases,with seven deaths.

The other nine countries (in al-phabetical order) with reportedlaboratory confirmed cases with nodeaths are: Austria (1), Canada(19), Germany (3), Israel (2), Neth-erlands (1), New Zealand (3), Spain(13), Switzerland (1), and the

United Kingdom (8).For its part, the Philippinesthrough the Department of Agricul-

NeNeNeNeNew sw sw sw sw swine-likwine-likwine-likwine-likwine-like fe fe fe fe flu virlu virlu virlu virlu virus emerus emerus emerus emerus emergggggeseseseses

DA condemns killing of top agri exec,thorough police investigation sought

ture andBureau ofA n i m a lIndustry(DA-BAI)has im-p o s e dstringentbiosecurity

and bor-der con-trol mea-sures top reven tthe entryof the A( H 1 N 1 )virus inthe country.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur C.Yap has assured Filipino consum-ers there is nothing to worry aboutand that it is safe to eat properly

cooked pork.The WHO said there is no risk ofinfection from A (H1N1) flu virus from

The Philippines is now holdingseparate discussions with Kuwaitand Brunei on possible investmentopportunities in the domestic Halalsector, particularly in Mindanao,which has a comparative edgemainly because it is free of the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and theavian influenza (AI) or bird flu virus.

Agriculture Undersecretary

Jesus Emmanuel Paras said theDepartment of Agriculture is offer-ing foreign investors at least twobig-ticket Halal investment propos-

RP eRP eRP eRP eRP eyyyyyes ees ees ees ees exporxporxporxporxports ofts ofts ofts ofts of HalalHalalHalalHalalHalalprprprprproducts to Koducts to Koducts to Koducts to Koducts to Kuwuwuwuwuwait,ait,ait,ait,ait, BrBrBrBrBruneiuneiuneiuneiunei

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yapled officials of the Department ofAgriculture in condemning the kill-ing of Undersecretary and DA Re-gional Executive DirectorGumersindo D. Lasam, who wasambushed by unidentified men inSolana, Cagayan, April 14, 2009.

We, in the Department of Agri-culture, condemn in the strongestterms the murder of DirectorLasam. He is a great loss not onlyto his family, but to Philippine agri-

(Pls turn to p2)

culture and to the Department,which he has served excellentlyand faithfully for many, many years.He is the most senior and inargu-ably the best of all the REDs.

We deeply mourn his death andhope that an immediate and thor-ough police investigation will soon

bring the perpetrators of this hei-nous crime to justice, Yap said.

President Gloria Macapagal Ar-royo is giving a P1-million rewardto whoever can give information thatwould lead to the arrest of the per-petrators.

According to initial police reports,

two armed men shot Dir Lasam ataround 7:15 a.m., while he wascrossing the NIA Bridge.

Chief Supt. Roberto Damian, theregional director of the PhilippineNational Police in Region II, said

the suspects immediately fled onboard a motorcycle after the inci-dent, while Lasam was rushed to

consumption of well-cooked porkand pork products. Individuals areadvised to wash hands thoroughlywith soap and water on a regularbasis and should seek medical at-

tention if they develop any symp-toms of influenza-like illness.The US Centers for Disease Con-

trol and Prevention (CDC) said ithas no idea where the A (H1N1) fluvirus has originated.

Everybody is calling it swine flu,but the better term is swine-like,said Michael Shaw, CDC associ-ate director for laboratory science.Its like viruses we have seen inpigsits not something we knowwas in pigs.It doesnt really haveany close relative.

For his part, DA-BAI Director

Davinio Catbagan said they will co-ordinate with the Bureau of Cus-toms and Philippine Ports Author-ity along with airlines and shippingcompanies on tightening border

controls in international airports andseaports.BAI is also imposing stricter

biosecurity measures and farm ac-creditation systems, saidCatbagan, as well as strengthen-ing quarantine checkpoints to pre-vent the transport, and ensure theproper disposal, of sick pigs, sothese animals do not end up in thehuman food chain.

Secretary Yap has directed theDA-BAI to strengthen the monitor-ing of all the ports to prevent the

als in Mindanao: the Halal Eco-nomic Zone in Davao City; and aHalal model poultry farm inCagayan De Oro City. These areworth a combined P3.04 billion.

Halal refers to the kind of foodpermissible under Islamic Law;hence, The proposed Halal Eco-nomic Zone, which will cost atleast P2.2 billion to establish, is

the centerpiece of the Halal invest-ment portfolio being offered to over-seas investors by the Arroyo gov-

(Pls turn to p10)Dir. Gumersindo D. Lasam

The Department of Agriculture through its Bureau of Animal Industry is encouraging

hog raisers to vaccinate their animals against swine flu.


2/12

Writers:Adora D. Rodriguez, Arlhene S. Carro, Mc. Bien Saint Garcia

Contributors: Info Officers of DA-RFUs, Bureaus, Attached Agencies &

Corporations, Foreign Assisted Projects

Photograhers: Jose Lucas, Alan Jay Jacalan & Alarico NuestroLay-out Artists:Almie Erlano, Alan Jay Jacalan & Bethzaida Bustamante

Circulation: Teresita Abejar & PCES Staff

Printing: Oscar Barlaan & Romulo Joseco

2

Editorial

is published monthly by the Department of AgricultureInformation Service, Elliptical Road, Diliman, Quezon City. Tel. nos.9288741 loc 2148, 2150, 2155, 2156 or 2184; 9204080 or tel/fax 9280588.This issue is now available in PDF file. For copies, please send requests

Editor-In-Chief: Noel O. Reyes

Associate Editors:Karenina Salazar, Joan Grace Pera, Cheryl C. Suarez

DA condemns... (from p1)

When the life of Undersecretaryand concurrent DA Region 2 Ex-ecutive Director GumersindoDurian Lasam was taken by stilluknown perpetrators on that fate-ful morning of April 14, the Filipinofarmers and fishers lost an ardentdefender and supporter.

And for his wife Olive and threechildren and the entire Durian-Lasam clan, they did not only loseone member, but the guiding forcethat holds the family together. Re-spected and adored, DirectorLasam was and still is thesun towards which everything onthe solar system, that is, theDurian-Lasam clan gravitates.

He must have foreseen his ap-

pointed time to return to HisMaker. In a recent and rare reunionwith three of his closest col-leagues at the sidelines of anevent in Mindanao, he was re-quested by DA RFU 11DirectorRoger Chio, saying: Roger, firstand last request ko sa yo, dalhanmo naman ako ng pomelo atdurian.

Throughout his illustrious ca-reer that has spanned 37 years,he rose from the ranks, from aveterinarian to a senior Regional

Executive Director with a rank ofUndersecretary he had consis-tently displayed genuine concernabout the plight of thesmallholders, by ensuring thattheir voice was heared and issuesaddressed.

He was known for his wit, rea-son, assertiveness and honesty.He spoke his mind, no matterwhat, to defend what he believedwas right and just, proving that onecan disagree without beingdisagreable.

To his staff members at the DARFU 2, he was a reasonably strictand generous father who would al-

We will miss you, Apo Gomer!We will miss you, Apo Gomer!We will miss you, Apo Gomer!We will miss you, Apo Gomer!We will miss you, Apo Gomer!ways go out of his way to showhis appreciation for their work andcooperation.

At a necrological service for hishonor in Solana, on April 20, ortwo days before he was finally laidto rest, good words as well assorrowful tears streamed for theman that family herald as thebest provider and doting grand-father to his grandchildren, andwhat colleagues, friends andprovincemates consider theirmentor, the wind of beneath ourwings and leader.

For his part, Secretary ArthurYap said: It is said that at theend of our days we are judged bythe gifts that we leave our chil-

dren. So, to his children I sayyour father did not leave you im-mense wealth and possessionsbut if you look around you -- theseare the gifts that he left you andthere you are immensely rich.The respect of the community, thelove, and the recognition of thosehe worked with.

He continued: There are twoformer secretaries here and a sit-ting secretary, plus local officialsand leaders. This is the legacyna iniiwan sa inyo ng ama ninyo.

Former DA Secretaries RobertoSebastian and LeonardoMontemayor also paid tribute toDirector Lasam and his significantcontributions to Philippine agricul-ture.

Our hearts still bleed for hissenseless death, but we takecomfort from the fact that he isnow in a better place, celebratinga life well-lived.

Let us long remember him forhis high sense of public duty, andhold his memories dearly by dedi-

cating our respective work to amemory of such a brilliant andcompassionate man.

NIA cancels P1.4-B equipment bidNIA cancels P1.4-B equipment bidNIA cancels P1.4-B equipment bidNIA cancels P1.4-B equipment bidNIA cancels P1.4-B equipment bid

The National Irrigation Adminis-tration (NIA) said it has canceledthe controversial bidding for the pro-curement of P1.4 billion heavyequipment.

NIA Administrator Carlos Salazar,in a statement, said that due to thedelay in the procurement process,it appears at this juncture that thecertainty of procuring the equip-ment in time for the restoration of

irrigation facilities during the dryseason will no longer be met.

As such, he said NIA, as theprocuring entity, has decided to ex-ercise its right to reject any and allbids pursuant to Section 41.1 of theIRR (Implementing Rules and Regu-lations) of Republic Act 9184 andhereby cancels the subject bid-ding.

It would be recalled that two law-makers had sought an investigationinto the P1.4-billion irrigation ma-chinery contract of the NIA after a

bidder who claimed to have offeredthe lowest bid was disqualified.

On the other hand, Salazar saidthe NIA stands by the integrity of

the St. Paul University Hospitalwhere he was declared dead onarrival.

Before his death, Lasam playeda key role in two of the DAs majorinitiativesthe ComprehensiveLivelihood and Emergency Employ-ment Program (CLEEP) for RegionII (Cagayan Valley), where Yap was

designated by Pres. Arroyo asCabinet steward for CLEEP, andthe Departments reform programanchored on the more effectivemonitoring of DA intervention pro-grams, including those under thePresidents FIELDS agenda.

Born on January 13, 1946 inSolano, Cagayan, Lasam gradu-ated with a degree in veterinarymedicine from the University of thePhilippines in 1968.

He started his government careerin 1972 as Cagayans assistant

provincial veterinarian. In 1986, he

was appointed as Regional Direc-tor of the DA Department of Agri-culture in Region 2.

He was appointed as AssistantSecretary for Regional Operations,from April 1994 to October 1999.

In 2000, he opted to assume hisprevious post as Regional Execu-tive Director of Cagayan Valley.

Due to his leadership, CagayanValley was able to surpass itsgrowth targets, particualrly in therice and corn subsectors, whichcontributed substantially to the ex-pansion of Philippine agriculture inthe past years.

Yap noted that under Lasamsstewardship as head of the DA of-fice in Cagayan Valley, the regionwas able to surpass its growth tar-gets for the rice and corn sectors,which contributed substantially tothe expansion of Philippine agricul-

ture in the past years.

the bidding process for the procure-ment of P1.4 billion equipmentsince it was done in strict adher-ence to the provisions of RA 9184or The Government ProcurementReform Act (GPRA) and its Imple-menting Rules and Regulations.

Despite media campaign to dis-credit the bidding, he said it is amatter of fact that every bidder wasallowed to participate in said bid-

ding.It is also a matter of fact that

there is no proof as to any violationof RA 9184 and its IRR committedby the NIA Bids and Awards Com-mittee (BAC) in the conduct of thebidding. It is also a matter of factthat the bidding procedure wasdone in an open and transparentmanner, he added.

Due to the delay in the procure-ment process, however, Salazarsaid NIA has decided to cancel thebidding since the certainty of pro-

curing the equipment in time for therestoration of irrigation facilitiesduring the dry season will no longerbe met.

NFA intensifies palay millingThe National Food Authority is

intensifying its palay milling to de-congest warehouses, accommo-date new harvests from the sum-mer crop or palagad,and thus buildup its rice inventory.

NFA Administrator JessupNavarro said they expect to buy as

much as 3.8 million bags of palay. The NFA has 294 owned ware-

houses nationwide that can store20 million bags. During the peak

of procurement it also leases pri-vate-owned warehouses.

It has already milled about twomillion bags of palay equivalent tosome 1.3 million bags of rice.

At the required 65 percent mill-ing recovery, the NFA expects toproduce 8.5 million bags of rice

from the 13.2 million bags of palayit bought during the last yearsmain harvest. (NFA Public AffairsDepartment)


3/12

3

April 2009

THE DEPARTMENT of Agricul-

ture plans to convert Philippine ag-riculture into a magnet for invest-ments in the long term, by way ofa master plan to convince the pri-vate sector that farming is a highlyprofitable enterprise with full gov-ernment backing all the way fromproduction to marketing of goods.

Given the realities of Governmentunable to meet all the financial re-quirements of this sector and ane-mic support from the banking com-munity, Secretary Arthur Yap saidthat the only way for this sector to

reach its full potential as a primaryengine of growth is for the DA to beable to attract much heftier invest-ments from the private sector.

He said that the DA executivesand the private-sector commoditychampions are crafting a masterplan to entice private traders to in-vest in money in agriculture withthe commitment that Governmentwill provide its equity share interms of infrastructure support, likeirrigation maintenance and farm-to-market roads, postharvest facilities,

technology transfer and trainingand, even, assistance in finding lo-cal and overseas markets for theirproduce.

Philippine agriculture and fish-eries cannot reach its full poten-tials if the government will rely onnon-government cash infusion onlyfrom businessmen with a passionfor farming, Yap said. The only waythis sector can spawn an environ-ment conducive to private invest-ments is to put up an unprec-edented level of government sup-

port that will persuade a lot of busi-nessmen to invest in this sector forthe simple reason that it is a highlyprofitable one.

Yap has been holding strategy

DA crafting master plan to make agriculture amagnet for private investments

meetings on this master plan with

senior DA officials, members of theSecretarys Technical AdvisoryGroup (STAG) and withagribusiness leaders consideredchampions in specific commodi-ties.

In a recent meeting at the Cen-tury Park Hotel in Manila, the DAchief designated UndersecretarySegfredo Serrano as the overseerof this plan, which will consist ofshort, medium- and long-term mea-sures to create a local environmentfar more conducive to private invest-

ments.During the meeting, the govern-

ment experts and industry leadersagreed that agriculture has a com-parative advantage under the deep-ening global financial meltdownbecause worldwide demand forfood commodities.

This master plan will include thestreamlining of the DAs policiesand programs to generate privatesector interest in the farm and fish-eries sector by familiarizing themwith the comprehensive array of

assistance that the government isready to provide them in the pro-duction, postharvest and market-ing aspects of agribusiness.Among the proposals broachedwere:

The reactivation of the commod-ity boards to make them institutionalarms of the Department

The identification of commoditychampions to spearhead invest-ment strategies in specific com-modities, like mango, banana andother high value crops

The creation of commodity clus-ters that will address concernsraised by the private sector and doaway with investment bottlenecksthat discourage private traders from

ploughing their money intoagribusiness.

Yap noted that although agricul-

ture accounts for a fifth of thecountrys Gross Domestic Product,private investments in this criticalsector remain minimal comparedto other industries. The sector ac-counts for 16% to 17% of GDP andemploys 11.9 million Filipinos or athird of the national labor force, butagriculture and fisheries receives ameasly 4% and 0.3%, respectively,of bank loans, lamented Yap in cit-ing the latest Bangko Sentral ngPilipinas (BSP) data.

Thus, this is the reason why theDA is pushing, among other farm-friendly legislative measures, theswift approval of amendments to theAgri-Agra Law, which will remove

those provisions that have allowedcommercial banks to buy govern-ment securities instead of setting

aside a mandated portion of theirloanable funds for agrarian reformand farm and fisheries develop-ment. In 2007, the total credit re-quirement of the agriculture sectorfor palay, corn, coconut, sugarcaneand fisheries was estimated atP200 billion, but banks were onlyable to finance P48 billion, or 24%of this requirement. But, becauseof the availability of alternativeforms of compliance to the Agri-Agra Law, such as investments ingovernment bonds and develop-ment loans for education, hospitalsand socialized housing, loanablefunds are being redirected to thesefinancial instruments.

SECRETARY Yap recentlyordered an internal audit of allpost-harvest facilities put up bythe various DA offices andattached-agencies in keeping

with the sweeping reformprogram that the agency isimplementing this year toensure better monitoring of itsintervention programs and more

judicious disbursement of fundsto local government units(LGUs), nongovernment organi-zations (NGOs) and peoplesorganizations (POs).

These post-harvest facilitiescomprise flatbed dryers,tramlines, cold chain facilities,fish ports, shredders, slaughter

houses, and bagsakan ortrading posts, and are all meantto pare post-production lossesthat cut into the profits offarmers and other stakeholdersand spell the more efficient andcheaper delivery of goods fromfarms to markets.

Yap assigned A/Sec. SalvadorSalacup to head the internalaudit team that will startassessing and validating thesepost-harvest projects followingthe Lenten break.

The DA is conducting thisinternal audit of its post-harvestfacilities to spell greater trans-parency, Yap said, and in

SACY orders audit of post-harvest facilities in step withfund disbursement reform

keeping with the reform mea-sures that we have put in placefor a better monitoring of ourintervention programs meant toboost farm production and a

more judicious downloading ofpublic funds to farmer-beneficia-ries via our program partnerslike LGUs, NGOs and POs.

He added that this DA reformprogram is the linchpin ofgovernment efforts to correctsystemic lapses that hasearlier affected the implementa-tion of its food security andsufficiency initiatives. Likewise,that such reforms are topped bythe creation of national andregional monitoring teams to

conduct periodic field validationand rapid appraisal of theDepartments interventionmeasures under its bannerprogram GinintuangMasaganang Ani, and theadoption of rigid guidelines onthe release of funds to NGOsand POs as well as to LGUs.

Moreover, for better coordina-tion with the Commission onAudit, the new guidelines issuedby Yap last year alreadycontained provisions of COACircular No. 2007-001 on fundreleases to NGOs and POs,and of COA Circular No. 94-013on similar releases to LGUs.

3


4/124

A TOTAL of 508 farmers have sofar been trained in the productionof non-chemical based fertilizerswhile another 718 benefited fromthe establishment of techno-demo

organic farms under joint initiativesbetween the DA and NGOs to pro-mote organic agriculture and otherrelated environment-friendly farmingpractices.

In a report to Sec. Yap, BSWMdirector Silvino Tejada said thatunder the first phase of the DAsOrganic FIELDS Support Project,the Federation of Free Farmers(FFF), a national organization ofsmall farmers headed by formeragriculture secretary LeonardoMontemayor, has teamed up withthe Bureau of Soils and WaterManagement in implementing theDevelopment and Promotion of Or-ganic Rice Production Program.This project, which has an initialfunding support of P1million fromthe BSWM, has two components:

508 farmers train, 718 more benefit from organicagril program nationwide

(1) the training of farmer-techni-cians on organic fertilizer and bo-tanical preparation; (2) the estab-lishment of techno-demo organicfarms.

21 provinces in organic rice pro-gram

Tejada reported at a recent DA

ManCom meeting that 88 farmer-technicians from the 21 provincescovered by the project took part ina cluster training program eachconducted separately in Luzon,

Visayas and Mindanao. Thetraining focused on the basic con-cepts and practices in organic ag-riculture.

Further, that a total of 79 organicrice techno-demo farms with a con-solidated area of 107 hectares, oran average of 1.4 hectares per farm,owned by 578 farmers in the 21

provinces were established. Mostof the techno-demo farms openedduring the November 2008 to Janu-ary 2009 planting season.

Mindanao farmers train in or-ganic rice

Tejada added that in a separateproject, the DA teamed up with theCentro Saka, Inc. headed byRomeo Royandoyan, in conductingtraining programs on organic ricefarming technologies; establish-ment of organic rice techno-demofarms; and setting up of acomposting facility for the produc-tion of organic fertilizer. A total ofeleven training sessions on organicrice production were conducted andparticipated in by 420 farmers from11provinces in Mindanao.

He disclosed also that a total of120 hectares of techno-demo farmsowned by 140 farmer-beneficiarieshad been established during the2008 dry cropping season. Of theseareas, 20 hectares are upland palayfarms located in Maguindanao andShariff Kabunsuan.

The composting facility, on theother hand, set up under the projectis located in Tago, Surigao del Surand operated by the Surigao delSur Federation of Agricultural Co-

(Pls turn to p5)

THE PHILIPPINE Coconut Au-thority has discovered new parasi-toid insects which could prove to

be of great importance in thecountrys continuing battle againstBrontispa longissima. TheBrontispa, a major insect pest, haspreviously attacked more than 1.6million coconut trees nationwideaccording to PCA AdministratorOscar G. Garin.

Our research center in DavaoCity has identified two indigenoussmall insects that parasitizeBrontispa by laying their eggs inthe larva or pupa of the pest, Garinhighlighted in a recently concluded

Brontispa in-house evaluation andaction planning held in Quezon City.The PCA-Davao Research Cen-

ter had previously conducted a fieldrelease evaluation where a total of1,948 parasitoid adults were re-leased in Brontispa-infestedbarangays in Region XI and also inparallel laboratory tests.

The parasitoids collected in thefield inflicted about 30%-50% para-sitism on the pests (host) larva orpupa, Garin noted, adding thatlaboratory results showed thataround seven to 47 adult parasi-toids emerged from one larva/pupa18 to 26 days from injection forparasitization.

With the earwigs, we now have

PCA now mass-producing 2 new parasitoids against

Brontispa three indigenous species for bio-logical control of this foreign(Brontispa) pest, Garin added ashe underscored the need to adopt

a long-term integrated pest man-agement system.He, however, said that the use

of chemical insecticides, throughtrunk injection or spraying, shouldonly be done in severe cases andat first treatment, with the long term

and sustainable approach to becomprised of biological control,use of entomophatogen fungi, goodfarming practices and strict quar-

antine controls.In addition, he said, Our re-search centers are now mass rear-ing these parasitoids for immedi-ate use in areas that may sufferrecurrence of Brontispa infestation.(COCONUT MEDIA SERVICE)

Recognizing the benefits of bio-technology application in agricul-ture, the Bureau of AgriculturalResearch (BAR) in partnership withthe National Institute of Molecular

Biology and Biotechnology(BIOETCH) and selected state uni-versities and colleges (SUCs), in-tensify its biotechnology R&D pro-gram giving specific attention to tra-ditional and modern biotechnology.

The biotechnology program fo-cuses on integrated processing toincrease the value and competitive-ness of traditional crops intendedfor local and world markets. Thisincludes the production of naturalingredients with the application oftraditional and modern technologyand the creation of clusters of natu-ral ingredients industries. With thePhilippines being rich inbiodiversity, it can exploit and cre-ate new products and medicine for

BAR intensifies support to agribiotech researchthe growing global market.

In a recent pronouncement ofBAR Director Nicomedes P.Eleazar, he noted how biotechnol-ogy application in agriculture is

seen as an answer to issues inagricultural productivity and foodsecurity.

With such an initiative, BARhopes to develop and promote theadoption of new production andpostharvest technologies to in-crease productivity and profitabil-ity of selected agricultural com-modities while minimizing the en-vironmental impact of farming andfishery practices to effectively man-age biodiversity, and help developscience-based policies.

The idea is to fast track agricul-tural productivity that positively anddirectly increases farmers in-comes, provides access to nutri-tious and safer food, and helps

achieve a healthy environment.Based at the University of the

Philippines Los Baos (UPLB),BIOTECH has been promoting ag-ricultural biotechnology that im-

proves the productivity of the indus-try in turning out products that costless and are safer for family con-sumption while at the same time,contributes to a healthy environ-ment.

According to Dr. Ida F. Dalamacioof BIOTECH, speculative fear of ge-netically modified organisms(GMOs) and biotechnology has pre-vented people from understandingthe real potentials and benefits ofbiotechnology application in agricul-ture. Dalamacio also clarified thatthere is more to agribiotechnologythan the GMOs and expounded onhow biotechnology can be appliedin agriculture.

(Pls turn to p5)

Palay Check Technique


5/125April 2009

Biotechnology is the applicationof any technique that uses livingorganisms, or a part of it, to makeor modify a product, to improveplants or animals or to develop sub-stances for specific functions.

If applied to agriculture, it sim-ply means the use living organismsor part of it, to improve the produc-tivity of crops, livestock and the fish-eries, she explained.

Dalamacio identified specific bio-technology applications that are

now reaping benefits for the agri-culture sector. These are: 1) micro-bial fertilizers/biofertilizers and mi-crobial pesticides; 2) tissue-culture

in crops, medicinal and ornamen-

tal plants, 3) tissue-culture in

crops, medicinal and ornamental

plants, 4) animal vaccines, and 5)

diagnostic kits of pathogens and

toxins.

She concluded that if these

agribiotechnology products arecontinuously promoted, are made

available, supported, and applied

as complement to other local

agritechnologies in the country,

achieving food security and totalproductivity in agriculture can be

surely achieved.(Rita T. dela Cruz,

DA-BAR)

BAR intensifies... (from p1)

RESEARCHERS from the Uni-versity of the Philippines Los Baosis conducting a year-long study tofast track the de-velopment of tech-nologies for theproduction of high-value food and non-

food products fromthe wastes or by-products of themango processingindustries.

The DA-Bureauof Agricultural Re-search (BAR) isproviding the finan-cial support for theconduct of thestudy.

The project of fivestudies focusing on mango seeds

and mango peel will be conductedto develop technologies for: 1) en-zymatic extraction of essential oils;2) bioethanol production; 3) extrac-tion of phenolic antioxidant(mangiferin); 4) development ofhealth drinks; and 5) sensory,

BAR supports devt of technologies to turnmango waste products into profitable use

chemical, microbiological, and sta-bility testing of biotechnology-pro-duced food and non-food products.

According toR e s e a r c h e rArsenia Sapin,the production ofhigh value prod-

ucts from wastesand by-productscan result to ex-portable com-modities, provideadditional sourceof income to pro-ducers, generateem p loym en t ,and create in-vestment oppor-tunities for thecountry.

A dollar-earner crop, mango

ranks third among the countrys ex-portable fruits; however, the mangoprocessing industry has been ex-periencing problems, among whichare the rising cost of processingdue to labor cost, high cost of thefruit, and the disposal of process-

SECRETARY Yap has orderedrecently an internal audit of the P2-billion loan that the National Irriga-

tion Administration (NIA) had se-cured from the National Develop-ment Corp. (NDC) that was usedto jumpstart the restoration andrehab of irrigation facilities servic-ing a total of 53,000 hectares of landin 2008. This is in line with fresh

SACY orders audit of P2-B NIA loan

for irrigation facilities rehab

DA efforts to ensure a more effec-tive monitoring of its interventionprograms and the more judicious

disbursement of its funds.In his directive, Yap ordered the

Field Operations Service and theRegional Agricultural EngineeringGroups of the DAs Regional FieldUnits to carry out the internal au-dit.

The audit should include the fi-nancial accomplishments of theprojects implemented by NIA us-ing this P2-billion loan from theNDC, Yap said. The audit teamwill also check if these projects arealready ongoing and if they are be-

ing implemented on schedule.Yap said that the NDC has beentapped last year to help NIA attainits target of restoring irrigation sys-tems covering 33,000 hectares andrehabilitating another 20,000 hect-ares of existing irrigated areas. Therepair of irrigation systems will addone or two more cropping seasonsper year in underutilized farm lands.This April, the Arroyo administra-tion is due to implement the re-store/rehab of irrigation facilitiescovering a total of 148,000 hect-ares.

operatives (SUFAC).Tejada said that these collabora-

tions initiated by the DA with NGOshave so far yielded a total of 508farmers and farmers-technicians

undergoing training in 14 sessionsin 32 provinces across the coun-try.6 Pilot OFSP in Luzon

Last year, the DA and BWSMforged a memorandum of agree-ment with the Philippine Rural Re-construction Movement (PRRM),La Liga Policy Institute (LLPI) andAlaminos City Mayor HernaniBraganza on the launching of theOFSP in an initial six cities andmunicipalities in Luzon.

Under that MOA, the DA andBWSM will provide financial and

508 farmers... (from p1) technical support to OFSP to carryout the programs first phase in forthe benefit of at least 600 farmerscombined who will get hands-ontraining over a four-month period (No-vember 2008-March 2009) on the

methods involved in the System ofRice Intensification (SRI) produc-tion, Organic Fertilizer Productionand Nature Fertilizer.

PRRM, LLPI and Braganza, onthe other hand, have committed un-der the MOA to oversee the imple-mentation of Phase 1 of the OFSPin the six pilot sites during the drycropping season, and take chargeof the education and informationcomponent of this project throughtrainings, seminars and consulta-tive meetings on organic fertilizerand organic fertilizer manufacturing,

and the production of TV and radioplugs and other promotional mate-rials. These pilot sites are AlaminosCity, Tabaco City in Albay, ScienceCity of Muoz in Nueva Ecija,Naujan in Mindoro Oriental, andDinalupihan and Samal in Bataan.

One-hectare palay fields, eitherowned by an LGU or by farmer ini-tiators, will be developed into learn-ing farms in each of the pilot areaswhere at least 100 farmer-partici-pants per site will be given hands-on exposure and experiential learn-ing on organic fertilizer techniquessuch as conventional compostingand vermi-composting, conversionof rice husk and hull into organicfertilizer, distance planting and SRImethodology, integrated pest man-agement (IPM) and zero-tillage fer-

tilizer. //

ing wastes.The mango

seeds and peelconstitute 50 per-cent of the fruit,but the potentialmarkets formango wastes in-clude thecosmetical andpersonal healthcare product in-dustries. Prod-ucts can be ofpractical use suchas for food, feed,and as a renewable energy source.

The one-year project was pro-

posed by a groupof researchersfrom the UPLB-Na-tional Institute ofMolecular Biologyand Biotechnology(BIOTECH) andthe Food ScienceCluster, UPLBnamely Arsenia B.Sapin , Teresita J.Ramirez, Susan A.Sedano, MaryAnn T. Tavanlar,and Wilson.T. Tan.

Photos courtesy of Rita dela Cruz


6/126

Sec. Arthur C. Yap:He is a great loss to the

Department and Philippineagriculture, which he has servedexcellently and faithfully for many,

many years. He is the mostsenior and, inarguably, the best ofall the regional executive direc-tors.

Marami sa kasama niya satrabaho benefited much from histutelage.

Who among us has not beenin the receiving end of his temper,Secretary included. Our shoutingmatches were legendary, butGomer never took it personallybecause talagang galing sakanyang puso. He is passionate,

dahil gusto nyang makatulong.The people who mastermindedand carried out the attack did nottake somebody away from hisfamily, they took somebody awayfrom Philippine agriculture.

We were all recipients of hisgenerosity.He offered his per-sonal possessions and gifts.

It is said that we are judged bythe gifts that we leave ourchildren. So, to his children, I sayyour father did not leave youimmense wealth and posses-sions, but he left you with theimmense the respect of thecommunity, the love, and therecognition of those he workedwith. You will judge him well bythese gifts that he has left you.

According to the book ofEcclesiastes: ... there is a timeto be born and a time to die. Atime to be sad and a time to behappy.

It will be a great injustice tohim if we will continue to mourn.Lets do him honor. We mustcelebrate his life.

Gomer now belongs to theimmortals.We will continue tohold him dearly and his memoriesdearly. And we will do it by

Throughout his lifetime, Dir.Lasam has endeared himself totens of thousands of individu-als family members, DAfamily officials and staff, local

government officials, col-leagues in the private sector,veterinary profession andsocio-civic groups, school-mates, neighbors, and mostespecially farmers and ruralfolk

in Cagayan and other parts ofthe country.

Below are some excerpts ofthe tribute to man, who isfondly called Gomer bycolleagues and friends, andApo Gomer or Lakay Gomerby his countless students.

dedicating our work to a memoryof such a man.

I will continue to ask forGomers help.He is now in amore powerful place than he wasbefore. And I know he can delivera lot of help from where he is.

In prayer he will continue to bewith us. When you are in heavenApo, doing your extension work,be a little more patient with thosewho know less than you.I cansee him talking to the saints, andhe is giving them advice on howto grow better rice and corn.

May the choir of angelswelcome you to heaven. May yourest in peace and eternal light.Gods mercy shine upon you.

Former DA Sec. Roberto S.Sebastian:

During our time before we gettogether for the DA ManagementCommittee meetings, I would askUndersecretary Manny Lantin toprepare 20 questions, 5 each ongrains and crops, livestock,fisheries and current events.

Those with agriculture back-ground did well in the grains

question.Those with vet medbackground did very well on thelivestock, and those with thefishery background performed

well in fishery questions. One did

very well in all secotrs, that wasGomer.

Former DA Sec. Leonardo Q.Montemayor:

When I asked Gomer if hecould join us in the central office,because I thought his talents arewell beyond Region 2, his answerthen was very forthright: I want tostay in Region 2. I want to takecare of my wife, Olive.

Gomer has balanced well theneeds of his family, and thewelfare of farmers and ruralfolk inregion 2. Thats a very hard act tofollow.

The best way to honor him isto continue the work that he hasstarted. His standards of de-cency, honesty and reliability,ability to work with people in avery diplomatic, but very effectiveway.

Lets follow his example thebest way we canto makesense out of his life.

In Matthew, in the New Testa-ment, we are told that if you want

to be admitted to the kingdom,one of the best admission ticketsis to feed the hungry.

In his life and through his work,

Gomer has literally fed hundredsof thousands, if not millions, ofhungry Filipinos. Thus, Im sureGomer is up there now.

Ms. Belinda Gonzales, DAUndersecretary for Administrationand Finance:

The sudden demise of Dir.Lasam, a manknown for hisoutstanding accomplishments,untainted service and unselfishdedication in the performance ofhis duties as a public servant,particularly in the field of agricul-ture, and as a recipient of theprestigiousLingkod BayanAward, is worthy to be given duehonor, recognition and respect byall of us in the DA family.

Dr. Paz Monez (RegionalTechnical Director, DA-RFU1):

In 2003, we adopted his NCLcluster survery of several com-modities like rice, corn livestock,tilapia, and mango.

His frequent pieces of adviceto us: There is always room forimprovement, particularly indeveloping ones potentials; andYou can do better than that!

Itinituro niya kahit ang pagtayo

during presentation, pati yongposition mo, kung paano mogagawin ang presentation, patimga combination ng colors, pati

Dir. Lasam was conferred with dozens of presti-

gious national awards throughout his sterling 37-

year stint in government, among them are the

Champion Advocate for Gawad Saka, which he

received from President Gloria Macapagal

Arroyo in July 2007, (with Sec. Arthur C. Yap) ...

... the 1993 Civil Service Commission Lingkod B

conferred by former President Fidel V. Ramos, in

(with wife Olive, and former President Joseph E.

was then the Vice President) ...

Dir. Gumersindo DuriDir. Gumersindo DuriDir. Gumersindo DuriDir. Gumersindo DuriDir. Gumersindo Duri


7/127April 2009

With wife Olive in their vintage convertible.

ang laman ng slides ayaw niyang crowded. Lahat yanpinapakialaman niya.

When I became an RTD, sabi

niya: Paz, alam kongmaprinsipyo ka, pero may timena mai-compromise mo angprinsipyo mo. Pero kung talagangalanganin ka, just call me and Ican give some advice.

Ang pagkaestrikto niya nasalugar.Kinatatakutan siya. Perokaming mga planning officer,crush namin siya. Kasi napaka-intelehente, maganda magdala ngdamit.Inspiration siya ng mgagustong matuto.He alwayschallenges us, saying: Hanggangdiyan lang ba ang kaya nyo?

Ms. Josephine Castillo, amunicipal agriculture officer inBatanes, on behalf of all munici-pal agriculturists of Region 2:

Si Dir. Lasam ang aming windbeneath our wings. Hindi kamimakakalipad kung wala siya.

During training, be it onplanning or program and projectimplementation, he was alwaysaround to see that we were goingon the right track, particularly inpreparing for presentations, kahit

abutin ng umaga. He is alwaysactive and quick to give hiscomments. When he stopsquestioning, we feel felt its

already an excellent report thatmeets his standard.

When we were devolved to theLGUs, we felt like children givenfor adoption.We felt cheated and

disappointed.But he said: Akalanyo, kayo lang ang nasasaktan?Masakit din sa akin na ipamigaykayo, pagkatapos kongmagpuhunan ng malaki sa inyoipamimigay ko lang kayo! So,masakit din ang loob ko. Ipromise, Ill find a way to get youin the DA family again.

His frequent advice to us was:Make use of everything you learnso that you will be an asset tothe LGUs.

He revived the municipal

agricultural meetings to maintain

direct communicationwith us. Like a goodfather, he wanted to knowkung may problema atkung paano makatulong.

He is so generous.Pag mayroon siyang

harvest sa farm niya,ipapadala niya sa amin,para sa breeding station,sa provincial at lahat namga devolved DA family .May tilapia, mangga, atrice. Ang last na pinadalaniya, salted eggs.

So, ngayong wala nasiya, wala nangmagpapadala sa amin.

Ms. Kaye Olivas(Planning Chief, DA-RFU

2):Hindi siya nawawalan

ng mga innovations.Kahit gaano kahirap angpinagagawa niya saamin, hindi namin siyamahindian, dahil veryfatherly, loving, andgenerous siya. Kung

meron kang ginawa para sakanya, susuklian at susuklianniya yon, in kind or pagkain orkahit na anong klaseng incentive.

He has ably taught us to excel

in whatever we do. Ang region 2ay laging nasa taas, angpinakamagaling lagi sa presenta-tion.

Mayroon siyang sarilingstrategy on how to do things inhis own way. He introduced thefarmer-led extension that waseventually adopted by in theentire region. Kulang na kulangang mga agricultural technolo-gist, at a ratio of 1 is to 500. Sonag-train sila ng maramingfarmer-leaders to act asextensionist to other farmers. So

sila yong nagso-showcase ng mganew technogies na pwedenggayahin ng ating mga farmers.Ngayon, marami na kaming mgaFLE o Farmer Leader Extentionistfor rice, corn, HVCC and livestock.

It is one of his many legacies.

Ms. Ligaya Lasam (Dir. Lasamseldest daughter):

He made sure that he nevermissed important events in ourlives. Hes always there for everycommencement exercise howeverbig or small our part in theprogram.The best provider, he wasa loving and caring father, whoplaced family above all else. Heencouraged us to explore ourpotentials and supported us in allour interests.

He always thought of ourwelfare, our convenience, our well-being. After his grandchildrenwere born, his world revolvedaround them.Everything he didwas for them. Parati siyang maypasalubong sa mga bata. Heorganizes family outings forenjoyment of his grandchildren. Hewas every inch the doting grandfa-ther.

To his DA Region 2 family,thank you for your patience,loyalty, and selfless dedication.

You provided him the confidence toaim high.With you beside him, hehas accomplished great things.Your unwavering loyalty, trust andsupport made him shine brightly.So bright that the DA CentralOffice took notice. Seldom in thispart of the country do we see oneof us reach the corridors ofnational authority. Thank you forbelieving in my father, for recogniz-ing his ideas, for working with himto serve our country. Letting himwork with you was for him thegreatest honor, for it was arecognition of his intellect andcapability to change things for thebetter. It gave meaning to his lifeand pride to our family.

Magsasaka ho ang Lolo athousewife po ang Lola ko. Mygrandparents died too early to seewhat my father has done forhimself.

It is his family pride that madehim very protective of hisname.He was very cautious not totarnish it. Letting down theDurian-Lasam clan was for him anunbearable thought.

If my father was able to soar inthis lifetime it was because youwere all the wind beneath hiswings.

Award

mber 1994,

da, who

n Lasamn Lasamn Lasamn Lasamn Lasam (January 13, 1946-April 14, 2009)(January 13, 1946-April 14, 2009)(January 13, 1946-April 14, 2009)(January 13, 1946-April 14, 2009)(January 13, 1946-April 14, 2009)

... and the Most Outstanding DA Regional Director from

former President Corazon C. Aquino in May 1992 (with

former Agriculture Sec. Senen C. Bacani).


8/128

Egg-cellent venture

Dont wait for things to happen.This was the gist of Secretary

Arthur C. Yaps message when headdressed the more than 100 par-ticipants of the 1st ConsultativeMeeting of Department of Agricul-ture family Public Information Of-ficers (PIOs), held at the Bureau ofSoils and Water Management inQuezon City, on April 22-24, 2009.

In particular, he pressed for a

more pro-active communicationforce of regional information offic-ers and their counterparts in all DAbureaus, attached agencies, for-eign-assisted projects, and focalpersons of FIELDS and GMA com-modity programs.

We have a lot of good stories totell our people, he said, empha-sizing that good news and successstories about the DAs programbeneficiaries and clienteles shouldbe disseminated regularly to thepublic.

We have to show the good side

Be pro-active, SACY urges DA PIOsof agriculture, he added, pointingout the crucial part informationplays in the development and pro-motion of agricultural programs andactivities.

During the concluding session ofthe three-day meeting, the first-everunder the watch of Sec. Yap, theparticipants presented a resolutionto Sec. Yap that included such lin-gering concern as the full imple-

mentation of Section 42, Chapter5 of RA 8435 or the Agriculture andFisheries Modernization Act, whichstates the creation of the Agricul-ture and Fisheries Information Ser-vice (AFIS) at the national level andAgriculture and Fisheries Informa-tion Division (AFID) at the regionallevel. Since 1998, when AFMA wasenacted, said provision has notbeen formally supported by aplantilla position and budget.

The meeting, spearheaded bythe DA-AFIS, also served as an av-enue for the collaboration of media

plans, policies and reforms for vari-ous information campaign activitieson the programs of DA nationwide.The PIOs likewise agreed to estab-lish a more strengthened networkand linkages.

Aside from Sec. Yap, assistant

secretary Salvador Salacup andGMA-Rice Director FriscoMalabanan graced the event. Onbehalf of Sec. Yap, Salacup pitchedin as the keynote speaker duringthe opening ceremonies, whileMalabanan discussed the updateson the GMA-Rice program.

The DA family PIOs were alsobriefed by representatives of otherGMA and FIELDS banner pro-grams, foreign-assisted projects,and other DA-OSEC services oninformation technology,agribusiness and BarangayBagsakan, and ComprehensiveLivelihood and Emergency Employ-ment Program, among other majorDA initiatives.

Which came first, the chicken orthe egg?

This age-old dilemma hasresulted to countless debates forcenturies, as it continues to bafflescientists, academicians, and even

your community tambays.It is indeed mind-boggling andmay even cause people to scratchtheir heads, but for Martin Ozaeta

a simple Batangueo, who hailsfrom Lumil, San Jose it is notimportant which came first, as longas it is economically rewarding.

For almost 20 years, MartinOzaeta of GEMSUN Marketing hasconsidered chicken eggs as hisfamilys bread and butter. Thanksto his in-laws, Mr. and Mrs. RolandoVirtusio, who first ventured into thepoultry business, Martin learnedthe intricacies of poultry and egg

business up-close and verypersonal.

Now managing his ownbusiness, 42-year old Martin seesto it that he attends personally tothe needs of the farm. These

include taking good care of thechicken, with the help of aconsultant. Through the years hehas learned and experienced anumber of factors that pose healthrisks to the chicken, leading toinfertility or even death.

Martin, who took up Commercein college, believes that allbusiness is not without hindrances.He remembers facing difficult timesin running his farm in the beginning.Among them, he states, ismaintaining a steady cash flow.

Hindi naman basta-bastangnegosyo ito, he quips, adding that

this is primarily caused by thetottering supply and demand.

Kung December, pag malapit naang Pasko, yan in-demand angitlog, pag bakasyon yun ang lean,he added.

As far as cash or capital isconcerned, he has a number oflending institutions and governmentprograms, including those of theDepartment of Agriculture to thankfor.

Malaki ang naitulong ngDepartment of Agriculture sa aminlalong-lalu na si Secretary Yap.Itoy dahil nung kinailangan namingmag-expand, naka-avail kami saACEF ng loan,he said.

The ACEF or AgriculturalCompetitiveness EnhancementFund is a special purpose fundcreated by Republic Act No. 8178or the Agricultural Tariffication Act

of 1996. It financially supportsfarmers and fisherfolk, cooperatives

and agribusiness entrepreneurs sothey can expand their operationsand viably compete in the domesticand global markets.

Martin has also partnered withthe DA via the marketing assistanceprogram Bagsakan Center, thruwhich he is assured of a readymarket for his produce in Marikinaand Quezon City.

Martins project has indeed comea very long way.

GEMSUN today has redesignedits building to an AV-type to adaptto the changing environment andclimate. An automatic drinkingapparatus is also being utilized foreasier management. Modernequipment such as generators,egg-grading machines, andsprayers are being used as well toensure the safe and high qualityproduction of eggs.

And through the years, Martinscompany has acquired a fleet oftransport vehicles: seven closedvans, two refrigerated vans, twotrucks for live hogs, and an L-300van.

Today, the poultry farm continuesto provide financial stability to theOzaeta family, as well as to some55 farm laborers.

Currently, it produces close to58,000 eggs daily, delivered toseveral supermarkets in SouthLuzon and Metro Manila.

It has also diversified into alivestock farm managed by Martinswife, Pilamar. The farm thus givessustained livelihood and incomesto Lumil residents through its Paiwior grow-out program.

Now, the town of San Jose isrecognized as the egg basket ofLuzon, thanks to the efforts ofpoultry raisers and egg dealers likeMartin. (DA Info Service)

Martin Ozaeta (right) with Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap.

By Adora D. Rodriguez

Sec. Yap with DA Family info officers


9/129April 2009

From the RegionsSelected news and developments on agriculture, fisheries, agribusiness and relatedsectors, as reported by the DA-Regional Field Units, and those published in nationaland provincial publications.

PRESIDENT Arroyos Compre-hensive Livelihood and Emergency

Employment Program (CLEEP) forCagayan Valley has so far helped9,917 beneficiaries with agriculture-related jobs and loans.

Sec. Yap said that among thesebeneficiaries, 4,467 and 4,517 werehired under DAs programs of Farm-to-Market Road Projects and Re-pair of Irrigation Systems, respec-tively.

On one hand, 27 green-collared

9,917 beneficiaries in Cagayan

Valley benefit from CLEEPjobs were created under its Coco-nut Replanting Program to ensure

the sustainability of its Bio-DieselFeedstock Program in consonancewith the Renewable Energy Law.

Yap, who was designated by thePresident as the Cabinet stewardfor the CLEEP in Cagayan Valleyand also in Bohol, said that on topof the jobs generated by the DA un-der this program, various Cabinetdepartments also came up withtheir respective employment

projects for the beneficiaries in

these areas.

CLEEP is part of the P330-bil-

lion Economic Resiliency Programthat President Arroyo is implement-ing this year to stimulate the do-

mestic economy and help Filipinos

ride out the deepening U.S.-in-

duced global recession.

Meanwhile, the Department of

Agrarian Reform, Yap said, has acredit assistance program foragrarian reform beneficiaries(ARBs) designed to provide them

with additional funding for farm pro-duction.

A total of 1,543 ARBs in CagayanValley will be benefited under thiscredit program, of which 1,056 arefrom Cagayan; 371 from Isabela;and 116 from Quirino.//

LLANERA, N.E., April 15-TheDA expects this years summercrop harvests to possibly reach ashigh as 7.3 million metric tons asa result of its intensified efforts tosustain the growth of the palay sec-tor through, among other initiatives,the expansion of production areasplanted to certified and hybridseeds and the repair or rehabilita-tion of irrigation systems nation-

wide.For the first semester of 2009,

the DA foresees palay harvests toreach a record volume of 7.2 mil-lion metric tons to 7.3 Mmt, whichis higher than last years output of7.1 Mmt during the same plantingseason, Sec. Yap said during therice harvest festival held here. Infact, the government plans to pro-cure one million tons of palay thisyear from local producers to helpraise farmers incomes and signifi-cantly reduce our dependence on

imports.The latest figures from the

Departments Management Infor-mation Division (DA-MID) show thatthe area planted to hybrid ricereached 126,814 hectares during

Summer palay harvests to reachrecord volume of 7.3Mmt-SACY

the current dry cropping season(September 16, 2008 March 15,2009). Based on field reports, hy-brid rice varieties have recorded ayield advantage of 33% more thanthose of inbred certified seeds.

The GMA Rice Program currentlygrants subsidy for the purchase ofhybrid rice seeds, conducts tech-nical briefings with the help of theDepartments regional field units,

and establishes techno-demo ar-eas in collaboration with the LGUsand the private sector.

Yap, accompanied by agricultureofficials and local chief executives,led the inauguration of the VacaDam project and the conduct of riceharvest festival/caravan. He alsoinspected the farm-to-market roadprojects and postharvest facilitiesin several palay-producing towns ofNueva Ecija, including a multipur-pose cooperative serving as acredit conduit of their members.

Following the approval last yearof a massive domestic palay pro-curement strategy, the NFA is plan-ning to buy 18 million cavans ofpalay this summer harvest sea-son.//

The Department of Agriculture

(DA) and Gawad Kalinga (GK)continue to strengthen the Bayan-Anihan Project.

DA and GK began the monitor-ing of vegetable gardens after thesimultaneous planting ceremonythat benchmarked and signalledthe start of the first batch of 115Bayan-Anihan sites to rise all overLuzon. The locations are situatedin selected provinces from Re-gions I to V. Some of the prov-inces included are Ilocos Region,Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon,Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna,Batangas, Rizal and Quezon),Bicol Region and the MIMAROPA(Mindoro Oriental and Occiden-tal, Marinduque, Romblon andPalawan) provinces.

At the same time, an overallevaluation was conducted to dis-cuss the implementation of ac-tivities to be carried out by theproject. It was also a venue topoint out challenges that themovement encountered and iden-

tify the possible solutions tocounter the adversities met.

The DA will start providing se-lected fruit seedlings, medicinal

DA-GK reinforce Bayan-Anihanplants and herbs to the 98 sites

included in the project on June2009.

The schedules of planting are di-vided into two phases. Phase 1took place last March which in-cluded the first 115 GK sites inLuzon. The second phase will takeplace in Mindanao on July 2009with few pilot areas in Visayas.

The Bayan-Anihan Project is acollaborative work between the DAand GK to address the hunger is-sues in the Philippines while en-gaging the GK communities, local

government, private sector, statecolleges and universities and indi-viduals. GK, a private-sector ledmovement whose vision is a slum-free and squatter-free Philippines,is best known for the houses it has

built for the countrys poorest of thepoor.

The project aims to establish foodsecurity among the food-deficientfamilies in the country and build atleast 2, 500 farms for the next threeyears to feed at least 500,000

people for life. The project plans toput up 500 farms for the CY 2009and 1,000 farms each for CY 2010and 2011 respectively.

Thirty extension workers insouthern Luzon recently underwenta Training of Trainers (TOT) on farmentrepreneurship and specializedfarm management on vegetable pro-duction, post harvest and market-ing, in Brgy. Rizal, OdionganRomblon.

The group was headed by Ms.Corazon Sinnung, HVCC DA-RFU4-B regional coordinator. The train-ing aims to create awareness onthe importance of organic vegetablefarming, and generate additional in-come for farmers.

The training dealt on:1.Farm management that in-

cluded basic project proposal writ-ing and record keeping.

2.Organic vegetable practicesand methods such as setting up of

organic farm, specialized culturalmanagement practices such assetting-up of intensive land/soilpreparation, seed sowing and seed-

HVCC conducts training in Romblonling management technology, rapidcomposting methodologies, effi-cient water management, and or-ganic approach of pests and dis-eases management.

3.Fundamentals and basic com-ponents of commercial and organicvegetable production.

4.Highlights of practices andtechniques in post harvest handling.

5.Effective farm marketing strat-egies.

Dir. Antonio Gerundio, RegionalExecutive Director Region IV-B,stressed the importance of convert-ing farmers from being productionoriented to marketing oriented forit is envisioned to contribute in ag-ricultural progress and global com-petitiveness.

Similar TOTs will be conducted

in MIMAROPA (Region IV-B), suchas in Occidental Mindoro, and inCalapan, Oriental Mindoro.(VidaLianne B. Pugay, DA-RFU 4-B)

Sec. Yap with GK advocates


10/1210

New ... (from p1)

Agriculture Secretary Yap has di-rected the Bureau of Animal Indus-try (BAI) to step up its surveillancework by closely monitoring thehealth conditions of animal han-dlers and other people in close con-tact with swine farms to detect thepossible presence of A (H1N1) fluvirus.

He issued the directive after at-tending the National Disaster Co-ordinating Council (NDCC) lastweek of April at Camp Aguinaldo.

He said the A (H1N1) flu virus isnot an animal health issue, but ahuman health problem. Hence, theDA will play a supporting role to theDepartment of Health (DOH), whichis in charge of crafting and imple-menting a national preparednessand response program against anypossible human disease outbreakin the country.

Yap said that the BAI will have toreport promptly to the DOH of anyillness exhibited by animal han-dlers and other people.

He had also directed the NationalMeat Inspection Service (DA-NMIS)

to likewise step up its monitoringto prevent the entry of sick pigs ordouble dead meat in the humanfood chain.

Surveillance of hog farm handlerson vs. A(H1N1) flu virus

Likewise, he said that keepingtabs of people in close contact withhogs is just a precautionary mea-sure, given that the real swine fluis an ordinary illness that affectsswine and from which most hogsrecover after a few days of illness.

Earlier, Yap had a meeting at theDA with hog industry leaders,namely, Renato Eleria, Eliseo Yuand Arceo Alfonso from the NationalFederation of Hog Farmers Inc.(NFHFI); Dr. Leo Obviar, presidentof Philippine Swine Producers As-sociation (PSPA), and Dr. WilfredoResoso, president of the PhilippineCollege of Swine Practitioners(PCSP).

These groups represent, amongothers, Foremost Farms, Robina,Monterrey, Holiday Hills, and RSFarm.

Meanwhile, Dr. DavinioCatbagan, BAI director, said thatthe Philippines does not import anypork product from Mexico, but im-ports about 50,000 metric tons fromthe U.S. and Canada.

The 50,000-ton pork import will

now be sourced domestically, mostlikely from Mindanao, and fromabout 10 countries that are free ofthe A (H1N1) flu virus.

terns and farmers being discour-aged to plant more after using pro-hibitively priced fertilizers and other

inputs with the intention of cashingin on the high cost of commodities,only to be met with collapsing mar-

kets last year.

Finally, he noted that in 2008, theprice volatility hiked the import bills

of the worlds poorest nations byat least 40% and drove the number

of malnourished people from 800

million to a billion today.

FACTS:

The H1N1 virus was originally referred to as swine flu

because laboratory testing showed that many of the gene

in this new virus were very similar to inluenza viruses that

normally circulates in North American pigs. It has two genes

from flu viruses. Scientists call this a quadruple reassortant

virus.

Cases of human infection with this H1N1 influenza virus

were first confirmed in the U.S in Southern California and

near Guadalupe County, Texas. Its thought that novel influenza A (H1N1) flu spreads in the

same way that regular seasonal influenza viruses spread;

mainly through the coughs and sneezes of people who are

sick with the virus. (US Centers for Disease Control and Pre

vention)

entry of any hogs/pork from Mexicoand the US, augment existing quar-antine checkpoints to further pre-vent movement of sick pigs, lift therestriction in the use of swine fluvaccine, and encourage hog farm-ers to regularly vaccinate their pigs.

Catbagan said while swine flucases were reported in the Philip-

pines in June 2007 at the height ofthe Porcine Reproductive and Res-piratory Syndrome (PRRS) out-break, there is no ongoing swineflu outbreak today in the country.

The A (H1N1) flu outbreak inMexico and the US are purely hu-man cases, said Catbagan. They(infected persons) were never ex-posed to pigs/swine farms. Thereare no reported outbreaks of SI inpig/swine farms in Mexico and theUS today that coincide with the cur-rent human outbreak.

Catbagan said the Philippines isnot importing live pigs or pork prod-ucts from Mexico and is importingsome pork from the US.,

Meanwhile, officials of the WHO,the United Nations Food and Agri-culture Organization (FAO) and theOffice Internationale des Epizooties(OIE) or World Animal Health Or-ganization have commended Sec-

retary Yap and Health SecretaryFrancisco Duque for their respec-tive offices quick or appropriateaction in containing the latest re-surfacing of the Ebola Reston vi-rus (ERV) in the Philippines .

After spearheading thedepopulation of 6,000 hogs in aBulacan farm to prevent the spread

of ERV, the DA-BAI placed undersurveillance thousands of backyardswine farms in an initial 566barangays across Luzon as part oflong-term measures to rid thecountry of this infection.

This anti-ERV surveillance workand testing involves some 30,000pigs in backyard piggeries inCentral Luzon, the Calabarzon(Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal,and Quezon) area, and the provinceof Pangasinan.

BAI will initially cover Central

Luzon, this part of Southern Luzon(or Region IV-A) and Pangasinanbecause the combined swineinventory in these areasaboutthree million pigscomprise thebulk of the countrys hogpopulation.

Catbagan said that BAIs planto cover more areas nationwidewould depend on whether the

ernment, Paras said in a recentforum.

To be located in Davao City, theZone is expected to generate24,000 new jobs for Muslim Filipi-nos, and boost the Philippinesexport earnings by at least $200million per year, he added.

Moreover, Paras said AgricultureSecretary Arthur Yap had gone ona three-day official visit to Bruneito forge mutual areas of coopera-tion in the farm and fisheries sec-

tor, particularly in the ricesubsector, as well as explore po-tential areas of agribusiness invest-ments in the Philippines that in-clude rice, corn, high-value com-mercial crops, poultry, marine and

Halal subsectors.

Yaps three-day trip is a follow-

up to the visit of Sultan Haji

Hassanal Bolkiah to the Philippines

last January, and his subsequent

visit to Brunei on March 3-4 2009.

During the January visit, Sultan

Bolkiah and President Arroyo af-

firmed their commitment to furtherdeepen and expand the friendly re-lations between their two countriesas well as work closer in address-ing regional and global challenges.

The two leaders had also citedthe potentials for stronger trade andinvestment relations between thePhilippines and Brunei Darussalamand the role of the private sector inenhancing economic cooperationbetween the two countries.

Meeting with Yap during his April25-27 visit was his counterpart, His

Excellency Pehin Dato Yahya, Min-ister of Industry and Primary Re-sources.

Yap had also joined His Majesty

Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah on 27April at the Launching Ceremonyof Paddy Planting Towards Achiev-ing Self-Sufficiency in Rice Produc-tion in Brunei, for which the Philip-

pine Rice Research Institute

(PhilRice) is maintaining a techno-

demonstration plot.

Wrapping Yaps visit is a pro-

posed memorandum of understand-

ing on agricultural cooperation be-

tween the DA and Bruneis Minis-

try of Industry and Primary Re-

sources.The accord aims to develop and

strengthen ties between the two

countries in the areas of plant sci-

ence, crops technology, vegetable

and fruit preservation, biotechnol-

ogy, postharvest technology, live-

stock, organic agriculture, irrigation

and water resources, and the Halal

industry.

Last February, the DA dispatched

to Brunei a five-man team from the

PhilRice to assess the potential for

rice self-sufficiency in response to

the Sultans request for Philippinetechnical assistance.

RP eyes ... (from p1)

SACY... (from p11)

Atlanta-based Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention (CDC) inthe United States could send morelaboratory kits to Manila. Only CDCproduces the kits needed for suchERV tests, he added.

He said that Yap had asked the

US government to ensure the

supply of these test kits for the

sampling of the 30,000 pigs

covered by the surveillance work.


11/1211April 2009

Maunlad na MagsasakaMaunlad na MagsasakaMaunlad na MagsasakaMaunlad na MagsasakaMaunlad na Magsasaka

702 kHz, DZAS 5:30 A.M.Host: John G. EnriquezHost: John G. EnriquezHost: John G. EnriquezHost: John G. EnriquezHost: John G. Enriquez

Rural Radio Program of EEBC and DA-Info. Service (AFIS)

The growingw o r l d population will causea perfect storm of food, energyand water shortages by 2030 be-cause the demand for resourceswill create a crisis with dire conse-quences.

Demand for food and energy willjump 50% by 2030 and for freshwater by 30%, as the populationtops 8.3 billion.

Climate change will exacerbatematters in unpredictable ways.

The United Nations Environment

Global food and energycrisis by 2030

Programme predicts widespreadwater shortages across Africa, Eu-rope and Asia by 2025.

The amount of fresh water avail-able per head of the population isexpected to decline sharply in thattime.

Improving agricultural productiv-ity globally was one way to tacklethe problem.

At present, 30-40% of all cropsare lost due to pest and diseasebefore they are harvested.

There should be more disease-resistant and pest-resistant plants,better practices and bettersharvesting procedures.

Genetically-modified food couldalso be part of the solution. Plantsshould then be resistant to drought

and salinity - a mixture of geneticmodification and conventional plantbreeding.(www.allaboutfeed.net)

The International Crops Re-search Institute for Sem-AridTropics (Icrisat) has cautioned

the developing countries that thereduction in food prices globallyis just a lull and that they need toget ready with plans to addressthe food concerns as climatechange impacts set in.

The availability of cereals in theglobal market was just three tofive percent of the total productionand the vulnerable countriesshould realise that this three tofive per cent availability was thin.

Climate change could result inincrease of drylands by 11

percent in the next 50 years.Even as the likely impact of

climate change is beginning to hitthe cropping patterns, Icrisat hasannounced that it is ready withclimate-change-ready crops.

They have developed apigeonpea and chickpea varietieswith 80-90-100 day and 70-80-90day crop duration that canwithstand increasing tempera-tures.

The agriculture sector wouldhave to face high temperatures,

less water (more water in some

ICRISAICRISAICRISAICRISAICRISAT sounds wT sounds wT sounds wT sounds wT sounds warararararningningningningningon food fronton food fronton food fronton food fronton food front

areas) and more droughts indryland areas than before. Theseeds the institute is developing

would have extra heat tolerance,helping the ability of drylandfarmers to fight global warming.

For one, pearl millet varietiesand hybrids are able to flower attemperatures of 45 degreesCelcius. Similarly, improvedsorghum lines are capable ofgrowing in temperatures of 42degrees Celcius.

The institute had adopted anOperational Research Plan calledAdaptations to climate change inthe semi-arid tropics.

ICRISAT, which took up awatershed developmentprogramme in Kothapally(Rangareddy district) with otherpartners, has decided to upscalethe programme to 350 areas inthe country.

They are going to replicate theKothapally model in China ,Vietnam , Thailand and thePhillippines.

The farmers in those areaswere able to increase productivityand incomes by three

times.(ICRISAT)

BANGKOK - According to theUnited Nations, a fall in grainprices has led to the impressionthat food security is no longer aconcern, but the number ofpeople without enough to eat is

still rising in a world facingrecession.The level

of pricesis still 19percentabove theaverage of2006whichmeansthat pricesare stillhighprices.

In addition, recent FAOstudies showed that even thoughprices had fallen in internationalmarkets, retail prices in mostdeveloping countries had not.And the crisis was worsened byfinancial and economic crisis.

The FAO estimates that overone billion people in the worldwill go hungry this year becauseof the combined effects of theglobal economic crisis and highfood prices.

The number of chronically

hungry people has been risingsteadily by 75 million in 2007and an estimated 40 million in2008. By the end of 2008, 963

million people were undernour-ished, almost two-thirds of themin the Asia-Pacific region.

According to FAO, the firstand foremost important elementis the need to invest in agricul-tural production (to combathunger), and this would require

$30 billiona year.

Thatsum,enough tohelparound500 millionsmallfarmers,would havebeenconsidered

high in the past, but Westerngovernments had poured intoschemes to stimulate theireconomies.

Between 2006 and 2008, theFAO says, fertilizer prices rose170 percent and seeds andanimal feed by at least 70percent, putting them out of thereach of small farmers.

Donors needed to ensureagricultural funding went back tothe levels of the late 1970s andearly 1980s, when 17 percent of

overseas development aid wentto agriculture, facilitating agreen revolution in Asia andLatin America. (www.irri.org)

Food security still a problemas hunger rises

A new study by EuropeanProspective Investigation intoCancer and NutritionOxford(EPIC-Oxford) analyzed thecancer incidence among vegetar-ians and found that the incidenceof colorectal cancer was higher invegetarians than in meat eaters,which stands in contrast to somerecent claims. The study also

found the risk of malignanttumors was similar betweenvegetarians and non-vegetarians.

The study, which included

Incidence of colorectal cancerhigher in vegetarians

63,550 men and women between1993 and 1999, found that theincidence rate ratio (IRR) forcolorectal cancer in vegetarianscompared to meat eaters was1.39 (95% CI: 1.01, 1.91).

The use of IRR allowed com-parison of people with no priormalignant cancer for variousfactors like smoking, body mass

index, alcohol consumption anddietary consumption of meat,fish, eggs, and dairy products.(www.beefmagazine.com)


12/12

EXPERT studies showing Asia,including the Philippines, as among

the regions most susceptible to theadverse effects of climate change

should serve as a strong impetus

for its leaders to band together inconvincing rich economies to fulfilltheir pledge of bankrolling researchand development (R&D) efforts that

will lead to a new Green Revolu-

tion, Philippines Secretary ArthurC. Yap said recently.

Citing a study by the Economyand Environment Program for

Southeast Asia (EEPSEA), Yapsaid that six states in Asia are vul-

nerable to climate change, but it isonly the Philippines where the

range of vulnerability was placedthroughout the entire nation.

Another study by the Australian

Weather and Climate Research

and Greenpeace Southeast Asia,shows that low-lying areas includ-ing Bangladesh, Vietnam, Cambo-

dia, Indonesia, India and the Phil-ippines face catastrophic floodingas polar ice caps may melt far

faster under the pressure of globalwarming.

According to scientific experts,new predictions suggest that the

higher sea levels could pose a farbigger threat than previouslythought with the melting of

Greenland, Antarctica and theworlds smaller glacier and ice

caps. Greenpeace, on the otherhand, has predicted that a one-meter rise in sea level in the Philip-pines, for example, is projected to

affect 64 out of its 81 provinces.

Higher sea levels would cover atleast 703 of 1,610 towns and inun-date almost 700 million square

meters of land in the country.

Such alarming findings, Yapnoted, have been validated by theNational Statistical Coordination

Board (NSCB) Secretary-GeneralRomulo Virola, who had warnedthat climate change will become amajor threat to a countrys devel-

opment.Virola had pointed out that sta-

tistics showed that most of theprovinces that are vulnerable to very

strong typhoons which are accom-panied by landslides and floods are

also home to some of the poorestFilipinos.

On the other hand, the EEPSEAstudy showed that in Vietnam, only

Climate change shouldprompt Asia to push for aGreen Revolution

the Mekong River Delta region wasfound to be vulnerable. Thailands

Bangkok region was also found outto be at risk, as well as the east-

ern and western portions of Indo-

nesia, over the adverse effects ofclimate change. The most vulner-able was Indonesia because of cli-mate-related factors and the high

density of its populated areas, the

study showed.Yap said that such studies should

prompt leaders in Southeast Asiato mount a joint effort in persuad-

ing affluent economies and globalcorporate giants to make good on

their earlier commitment to setaside $100 billion for R&D by the

Consultative Group on InternationalAgriculture Research (CGIAR) tosustain food production through a

new Green Revolution.

Yap also said that industrializedeconomies and big corporationsshould fulfill this commitment soon

to save close to a billion people fromdeath and famine at a time of aworsening global recession.

Just recently, in Madrid, Spain,Yap renewed his pitch for a new

Green Revolution before the UnitedNations High-Level Meeting on

Food Security for All held in thatcapital city. He noted the irony ofrich economies allocating close to

a trillion dollars overnight to helpsave Wall Street, while the world

keeps waiting for the pledges ofwell-off nations to set aside fundsfor the use of CGIAR to sustain foodproduction through this new Green

Revolution.

As the world is faced with theproblem of increasing food yieldsamid dwindling resources and the

adverse effects of climate change,

Yap had said that the solution liesin forming a grand coalition againsthunger and poverty, which will tap

science and extension services forways to sustain food productionand feed the worlds poorest of thepoor.

The Madrid meeting was a fol-low up to the 2008 High Level Con-ference on World Food Security or-ganized by the U.N. Food and Ag-

riculture Organization (FAO) inRome last year.

He also said that the worlds fi-nance wizards should open up more

financial facilities and services foraccess by Governments and en-

trepreneurs, not only to addressthe productive capacity of small

landholders who comprise 75% ofthe worlds poor but also to address

ventures that will unlock the valuechain amidst a global recession.

Yap had first aired his call for asecond Green Revolution throughresearch and development efforts

of the CGIAR before the interna-

tional workshop panel Feeding theAsian Tiger: Challenges and Impli-cations for the World Markets at

the 10th German World Bank Fo-rum held in Frankfurt, Germany lastyear.

He said that the developed coun-tries and big industrial corporations,

which have contributed the most toglobal warming and other woes thathave triggered the global food cri-

sis, should take the lead in

bankrolling the R&D programs ofmajor international agricultural re-

search institutions such as the In-ternational Rice Research Institute(IRRI) and the International Maizeand Wheat Improvement Center.

During the Madrid conference,

Yap also renewed his call for the

establishment of a global food re-

serve to ensure the stable supplyand prices of food staples such asrice and other cereals in the world

market in anticipation of future pro-duction shortfalls.

He said that setting up a foodreserve remains an urgent concern,

considering that even though priceshave retreated and food production

are at their highest levels, otherdevelopments point to another pos-

sible round of consumer panic and

even sharper price spikes in the nottoo distant future.

For instance, he cited that de-

spite reports of high food produc-tion levels, harvests increased only

marginally, with global stocks-to-use ratios at 30-year lows. More-

over, he said that if the yields ofChina, India, Brazil, and some othercountries are removed from the listof food producers, production may

have actually retreated in others.Likewise, other factors should

also be considered, such as cli-matic shifts, Yap cited, which have

altered cropping and harvesting pat-

(Pls turn to p10)

SACY visits BruneiSecretary Arthur C. Yap had

gone on a three-day official visit toBrunei Darussalam to further ce-ment mutual areas of cooperationin the farm and fisheries sector,

particularly in the rice subsector,as well as explore potential areasof agribusiness investments in thePhilippines by this oil-rich South-east Asian neighbor.

The possible investment areasthat Yap and other agriculture ex-ecutives proposed to Brunei offi-cials and business leaders werein the palay and corn, high-valuecommercial crops, poultry, marineand Halal subsectors.

Yaps April 25-27 trip served asa follow-up to the visit of His Maj-esty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah,Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan ofBrunei Darussalam, to the Philip-pines last January and the DAchiefs subsequent visit to Bruneion March 3-4 2009.

During the January visit of HisMajesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam tothe Philippines, he and PresidentArroyo affirmed their commitmentto further deepen and expand thefriendly relations between their twocountries as well as work closerin addressing regional and global

challenges.The two leaders had also cited

the potentials for stronger tradeand investment relations between

the Philippines and BruneiDarussalam and the role of the pri-vate sector in enhancing economiccooperation between the twocountries.

Yap had also joined His MajestySultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah on27 April at the Launching Cer-emony of Paddy Planting TowardsAchieving Self-Sufficiency in RiceProduction in Brunei, for which thePhilippine Rice Research Institute(PhilRice) is maintaining a techno-demonstration plot.

Wrapping Yaps visit is a pro-posed memorandum of under-standing on agricultural coopera-tion between the DA and BruneisMinistry of Industry and PrimaryResources.

The accord aims to develop andstrengthen ties between the twocountries in the areas of plant sci-ence, crops technology, vegetableand fruit preservation, biotechnol-ogy, postharvest technology, live-stock, organic agriculture, irriga-tion and water resources, and theHalal industry.

Last February, the DA dis-patched to Brunei a five-man teamfrom the PhilRice to assess theIslamic states potential for riceself-sufficiency in response to the

Sultans request for Philippinetechnical assistance to helpachieve Bruneis food securitygoals.

Aggie Trends April 2009

Documents

Transcript of Aggie Trends April 2009