Vol. XXVIII No. 1 A monthly publication of the Department of Agriculture January 2013

Agri grows by 2.9% in 2012Bannered by the crops, poul-

try and livestock subsectors, thecountry’s agriculture industrygrew by 2.92 percent (%) in2012, grossing P1.4 trillion atcurrent prices.

Agriculture Secretary ProcesoJ. Alcala said the threesubsectors — which accountedfor 82% of total farm output —posted a combined growth of3.6%. The fisheries subsector,which shared 18% to total pro-duction, dipped by 0.04%, mainlydue to a 3.9% decline in munici-pal fish catch.

The crops subsector played amajor role, despite the adverseeffects of typhoons and floodslast year, as palay (paddy rice)and corn posted record harvestsof 18.03 million metric tons (MT)and 7.41 million MT, respectively.

Secretary Alcala said therecord palay harvest — whichwas 8% more than the 2011 out-put of 16.68 million MT — wasattributed to the 3.4% increasein total area harvested, totaling4.69 million hectares versus 4.54million hectares in 2011.

He said more farmers wereencouraged to plant immediatelyafter the 2012 summer crop so

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Agriculture Secretary ProcesoJ. Alcala urged top DA officialsto ensure that sufficiency in ma-jor staples, particularly rice andcorn, is attained this year.

“Tiyakin nating abutin ang mgatarget sa ilalim ng Food StaplesSufficiency Program o FSSP, lalona sa bigas,” said Secretary

SPJA: ‘Ensure sufficiency in rice, staples’Alcala during the DA’s 2013 1st

quarter national managementcommittee meeting, January 30-31, in Legazpi City.

He said while there are stillmany who doubt that rice suffi-ciency could be attained, Presi-dent Aquino himself is confidentthat it could be done.

It is the big challenge to all DAfamily officials, especially so that2013 has been declared byPresident Aquino as ‘NationalYear of Rice,’ the DA chief said.

“Bagamat may mga hindi parin maniwalang kakayanin natinito, malaki ang pananalig ng

DA grants Quezon ARBs P33-M farm equipment, inputs.Agriculture Secretary Alcala (3rd from right) joins Agrarian Re-form Secretary Virgilio de los Reyes (left), Human Rights Commis-sion chairperson Loreta Ann Rosales (2nd from right), and NationalAnti-Poverty Commission Secretary Joel Rocamora (right) as theymeet 1,000 agrarian reform farmer-beneficiaries from BondocPeninsula, during an awarding ceremony in Mulanay, Quezon, Feb-ruary 6, 2013. The DA provided them P33-million worth of farmequipment and inputs to increase their productivity and incomes.

they could harvest by August orSeptember, and thereafter do a‘Quick-Turn-Around’ (QTA) orplant again by mid-September.

“Our efforts are paying off, andwe would like to implement simi-lar early planting and QTAschemes, and cover more areasto attain our sufficiency target of20 million MT by end of 2013,”said the DA chief.

Further, the average harvest ofpalay increased by 4.3%, from3.68 MT in 2011 to 3.84 MT lastyear, equivalent to 160 kilo-grams (about 3.2 cavans) perhectare.

This was due to the availabil-ity of more affordable quality riceseeds, as the DA provided farm-ers’ groups and Irrigators’ Asso-

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Secretary Alcala hands over a symbolic certificate to Albay Gover-nor Joey Salceda, representing P9-million worth of farm equip-ment and inputs for Albay farmers, in Legazpi City, January 30,2013. Also shown (from left) are former DA Bicol regional direc-tor Jose Dayao, newly-appointed DA Bicol regional directorAbelardo Bragas, Assistant Secretary and national rice programcoordinator Dante Delima.

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The Department of Agricultureis crafting a disaster prepared-ness, response and rehabilita-tion program to cushion off theadverse and destructive impactsof typhoons, floods and droughton the country’s agriculture andfishery sector.

Agriculture Secretary ProcesoJ. Alcala said the entire DA fam-ily should be prepared to sur-mount the challenges posed bynatural calamities, and protectthe gains and livelihood of the (Pls turn to p4)

DA crafts disaster preparedness, rehab programcountry’s farmers and fisherfolk,including public investments likeirrigation systems, postharvestfacilities, and farm-to-marketroads.

“Let’s harmonize our effortsand resources, as we craft acomprehensive disaster pre-paredness program to better pro-tect farming and fishing areasagainst typhoons and floods,”said the DA chief, on January 17,2013, at the opening of a three-

DA, DAR launch P17-Bcrop insurance coverage

The Department of Agricul-ture through the PhilippineCrop Insurance Corporation(PCIC) has partnered with theDepartment of Agrarian Re-form (DAR) to provide up toP17-billion worth of crop insur-ance protection to agrarianreform beneficiaries (ARBs)over the next two croppingseasons.

The joint initiative is to datethe single biggest group in-surance plan issued by theDA-PCIC that will benefit tensof thousands of farmers, said

Writers: Adora D. Rodriguez, Arlhene S. Carro, Bethzaida N. Bustamante,Catherine N. Nanta

Contributors: DA-RFU Info Officers, Public Info Officers of DA Bureaus,Attached Agencies & Corporations, MRDP & other Foreign-Assisted Projects

Photographers: Jose Lucas, Alan Jay Jacalan & Kathrino ResurreccionLay-out Artist: Bethzaida N. BustamantePrinting & Circulation: Teresita Abejar & PCES Staff

Editor-In-Chief : Noel O. ReyesAssociate Editors: Cheryl C. Suarez & Adora D. Rodriguez

is published monthly by the Department of Agriculture InformationService, Elliptical Road, Diliman, Quezon City. Tel. nos. 9288762 loc 2148, 2150,2155, 2156 or 2184; 9204080 or tel/fax 9280588. This issue is available in PDFfile. For copies, please send requests via email: da_afis @yahoo.com.

EditorialMagandang pagtatapos, magandang simula

2

Bunga ng malaking pag-angat ng produksyon ngpalay at mais noongnakaraang taon, sa kabila paman ng dagok na dulot ngbagyong Pablo na humirit sahuling buwan ng 2012,magandang simula angkinakaharap ng Philippineagriculture sa pagpasok ng2013.

Ito ang inihayag ni KalihimProcy Alcala sa mga pinunong buong Kagawaran sakanilang unang pulong ngDA management committeesa Legazpi City.

Aniya, umabot sa halostatlong porsyento ang itinaasng produksyon ng buongsektor ng sakahan atpangisdaan.

Tumaas ang produksyonng palay sa 18 milyongtonelada (MT), at ng mais sa7.4 mily0ng MT noong 2012– pinakamalaking ani sabuong kasaysayan ngbansa.

Ito’y nakamit ng atingmasisipag na magsasakadahil na rin sa mgamakabuluhang interbensyonna pinagulong ngKagawaran, kabilang na angpamamahala ng maspinabuting irigasyon,pamamahagi ng mataas nauri ng binhi, atmekanisasyon sa mgasakahan.

Naglaan din ng masmalaking pautang angpamahalaan at naglaan ng

pondo para sa pamimili ngpalay sa mga magsasaka.

Dahil dito, tinataya nakaunti na lamang bigas angating aangkatin sa taong ito,na pag ‘buffer stock’ nalamang, kung sakaling mulitayong mabiyayaan nangmagandang panahon ngating Maykapal.

Marami-rami ring mgamagsasaka angmakikinabang ngayong taondahil palalawigin ng DA-National Food Authority angpamimili ng palay sa mgamagsasaka, lalo na sa mgaliblib na komunidad, nangmaipagbili nila sa mataas napresyo, hanggang P17 kadakilo, ang kanilang palay.

Bukod sa mga agriculturalinfrastructure at intervention,malaki ang naitulong ngpakikiharap at pakikipag-usap ni Sec Procy sa mgamagsasaka, mangingisda,pinunong-lokal at mgapangunahing katuwang sasektor ng agrikultura.

Aniya: “Bukod sa nailapitnatin sa mga kababayangmaralita ang mga programang pamahalaan para sa masmaunlad na buhay,nanumbalik at naging masmalalim ang kanilang tiwalasa atin.”

At dahil nga sa tiwalangipinagkaloob ni PangulongAquino sa kanya at sa buongpamilya ng Department ofAgriculture, nararapat

lamang na doble-kayod anglahat upang ipatupad angFood Staples SufficiencyProgram (FSSP), at sama-sama nating kamtin angkasapatan sa bigas at ibapang pangunahing pagkain.

Positibo si Sec Procy napagkaraan ng 2013 (naidineklara ring National Yearof Rice), buong pagmamalakina nating masasabing: ‘Sapatna bigas, Kaya ng Pinas!’

Kaya naman hiling niya nalalo pang paigtingin angpagkakaisa at kooperasyonng mga pinuno ng iba’t-ibangbureau, attached agency atopisina ng buong pamilya ngKagawaran ng Pagsasaka.

Hiling din nya na lalongpang palakasin ang kanilangpakikipag-ugnayan sa mgapinunong lokal, gayundin samga Kinatawan ng bawatDistrito, para sa masmatagumpay napagpapatupad ng mgaprograma sa sakahan atpangisdaan, alinsunod sa‘matuwid na daan.’

Kung tutuusin tuwidnamang maituturing ang daanna tinatahak ng Kagawaranbase na rin na pagkilalangiginawad ng National Eco-nomic and DevelopmentAuthority (NEDA) noongnakaraang taon.

Tumanggap ng ‘GoodPractice Award’ mula saNEDA ang Mindanao RuralDevelopment Program

(MRDP2) at Infrastructurefor Rural ProductivityEnhancement Sector(InFRES) Project — dahil sakanilang mahusay napagpapatupad ng mgaproyektong imprastrakturaat pangkabuhayan.

Nawa’y ang parangal naito’y madagdagan pa sasusunod na mga taon.

Ito ang hamon ni SecProcy sa buong pamilya ngDA na lalo pang palakasinang ating pakikipagtulungansa mga LGU, pribadongsektor, at sa mga samahanng mga magsasaka atmangingisda — upangmaramdaman ng ating mgamaliliit at kapus-palad nakababayan sa kanayunanang mga programa atproyekto na layuningbaguhin at iangat angkanilang dahop nakabuhayan.

Kaya naman ang kanyangpanawagan ay ipagpatuloypa ang sama-samangpagsisikap upang higit namakapaglingkod ng tapat sabayan.

Hangad niya’y dumami paang mga kapatid natin sakanayunan na kungtatanungin ano ang kanilangtrabaho ay taas-noo atbuong-pagmamalaki nilangsasagutin: “Magsasaka,baket!”

SPJA: Ensure ... (from p 1)

ating Pangulong Aquino na kayanating abutin ang minimithingkasapatan sa bigas.

“Kaya ito ang hamon sa atin.Pagtulungan nating patunayanna ‘Sapat na bigas, kaya ngPinas’,” he added.

The DA targets to produce 20million MT this year, making thecountry 100 per cent sufficient.

To achieve it, the DA will en-courage farmers to plant early

this year right after the summercrop, and then do a ‘quick-turn-around’ or QTA immediately af-ter the main season on or beforeSeptember 15, 2013, that willcover at least 300,000 hectares.

For the QTA, the DA will pro-vide participating farmers withfree certified seeds and crop in-surance coverage.

Further, to encourage morefarmers to plant and produce ricethis year, the DA chief has in-structed the National Food Au-

thority to intensify its palay pro-curement to serve more farmers,particularly in remote areas, andbenefit from its P17 per kilo buy-ing price. The NFA targets to buyat least 615,000 MT this year.

The DA will also expand itsSikat-Saka credit program tocover the country’s top 20 riceproducing provinces.

The agency also aims to pro-duce at least eight million MT ofcorn this year, enabling it to at-tain 100 percent sufficiency.

Surplus yellow corn productionwill be exported, in partnershipwith the private sector, Alcalasaid.

He also urged concerned DAofficials to complete the respec-tive roadmap of major commodi-ties, particularly those that havebig impact on the livelihood andincomes of small farmers andfisherfolk.

Further, he asked DA familyofficials to complete their respec-tive disaster risk reduction andrehabilitation program, to preventthe destructive effects of ty-phoons and floods, and protect

the harvests and livelihood ofsmall farmers and fisherfolk, andinfrastructure like irrigation sys-tems, postharvest facilities andtrading centers.

He also urged the DA regionaldirectors and other concernedofficials to sustain the agency’sstrong partnership with the localgovernment units and the privatesector.

He said right after the May2013 elections, the DA regionaldirectors should meet and briefthe winning LGU officials on theDA’s major programs andthrusts.

He also urged them tostrengthen partnership with theprivate sector, and establishmore ‘value-chain’ enterprises tobenefit more small farmers’ andfishers’ groups.

The DA ManCom was at-tended by 100 participants, in-cluding undersecretaries, assis-tant secretaries, heads of re-gional field units, bureaus, at-tached agencies, corporations,commodity programs, OSECservices, and foreign-assistedprojects.

3January 2013

Secretary Alcala shares with the officers and members of the Ro-tary Club of Manila (RCM) the agricultural sector milestonesachieved by the Aquino administration, during the Club’s January17, 2013, meeting at the Manila Polo Club. He said efforts of theDA in partnership with farmers’ and fishers’ groups, LGUs, andthe private sector, including socio-civic clubs like RCM are on theright track towards attaining sufficiency in rice, corn and majorstaples by end of 2013. Top photo also shows RCM president RobertoPagdanganan (2nd from right), and other RCM officials.

To benefit more small coconutfarmers and their families, theDepartment of Agriculturethrough the Philippine CoconutAuthority (DA-PCA) will focusmore attention and allot moreresources in producing non-tra-ditional products like coco water,coco milk, coco sap sugar, vir-gin coconut oil, coco flour, coir,fiber, charcoal and other by-prod-ucts.

Agriculture Secretary ProcesoJ. Alcala said “this is containedin our coconut roadmap, whichalso entails the establishment ofvillage enterprises nationwide, tobenefit small coconut farmingcommunities who will produce ina sustainable basis fresh non-traditional coconut products forboth domestic and export mar-kets.”

The DA-PCA will implementthe roadmap in partnership withcoconut farmers’ groups, theLGUs and the private sector.

As part of the roadmap, PCAAdministrator Euclides Forbessaid the agency targets to plantthis year 17.5 million coconutseedlings nationwide.

From July 2010 to December2012, he said the PCA under theAquino administration has al-ready planted 238 million coco-nut trees.

If it achieves the target thisyear, it would establish a recordof 255.5 million seedlings

PRDP to commence in mid-2013

planted by end of 2013, for anaverage of 73 million coconuttrees yearly.

This is more than double theaverage annual coconut plantingunder previous administrations,Administrator Forbes said.

This year, he said the PCA hasa P1.7-billion budget, which it willuse for major initiatives, that in-clude replanting and fertilizationof about 20 million trees.

Majority of the budget will beused for planting and fertilizationprojects, and about one-third orP567 million will be used for in-tercropping, research, training,and in market development andpromotion of non-traditional co-conut products and by-products.

Another P300 million is allotedfor the KAANIB or “Kasaganaansa Niyugan ay Kaunlaran ngBayan” program.

KAANIB project sites featurecoconut planting and replanting,coconut fertilization; intercrop-ping and livestock raising (cara-bao, cattle, swine, goat and poul-try); establishment of coconutseednut nurseries; and semi-processing and marketing of co-conut products like coconut coirdust, coco peat as organic fertil-izer, coco coir into geotextiles,coconut sap into vinegar andsugar, coconut shell into char-coal.

“To date, there about 100

The Department of Agricultureis set to roll out by third quarterthis year its biggest foreign-as-sisted project, called the Philip-pine Rural Development Pro-gram (PRDP).

The initiative is up for approvalby the National Economic Devel-opment Authority (NEDA) Board,chaired by President Benigno S.Aquino III. Thereafter, it will besubmitted to the World Bank(WB) for evaluation, approvaland funding.

The PRDP will be imple-mented for six years. It will costabout $670 million or P27.5 bil-lion to cover as many qualifiedlocal government units and farm-ers’ and fishers’ groups in theentire country.

Agriculture Secretary ProcesoJ. Alcala said the PRDP aims toestablish a government platformfor a modern, climate-smart, andmarket-oriented agriculture andfishery sector.

“The PRDP will build on thegains of the Mindanao RuralDevelopment Program (MRDP)by improving on and replicatingits various projects throughoutthe country,” the DA chief added.

The MRDP is currently imple-mented in 225 towns in all prov-inces in Mindanao.

The PRDP has four compo-nents, namely: investments inagri-fishery modernization plansof LGUs or I-Plan; intensifiedbuilding up of infrastructure andlogistics for development or I-BUILD; investments in rural en-terprises and agriculture andfisheries productivity or I-REAP;and implementation support or I-SUPPORT.

Secretary Alcala said thePRDP will complement the DA’smajor initiatives particularly inreducing poverty, creating broad-based or inclusive growth, andcreating more jobs and livelihoodopportunities.

Two-thirds of the PRDP fundsis alloted for infrastructureprojects (68%) or about P18.5billion, while one-fourth (25%) orP6.9 billion will be used to bank-roll value-chain agri-fishery en-terprises, said MRDP DeputyDirector Arnel V. De Mesa, whoalso serves as the interim PRDPdeputy director. DAUndersecretary for operationsJoel Rudinas serves as PRDPinterim program director.

“Mindanao will lead the imple-mentation as we already havethe experience and have beenconsistently rated satisfactory bythe World Bank,” said MRDPDeputy Director Arnel V. De

Mesa.He said due to the favorable

performance of the MindanaoLGUs, the WB has allowed ret-roactive funding for projects inMindanao.

“This means we can imple-ment PRDP projects as early asJanuary of 2013, ahead of every-one else in the country and that’sto our advantage,” he said.(Sherwin Manual, DA-MRDP)

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PCA to focus on non-traditional products

DA eyes moreorganic farms,

agri-tourism sitesThe Department of Agriculture

is encouraging more farmers,entrepreneurs, hobbyists andoverseas Filipino workers to es-tablish organic farms that willserve as agri-tourism sites.

Agriculture Secretary ProcesoJ. Alcala made the pitch as hecommended a model organicfarmer from Laguna, RonaldCostales, and presented him acertificate as an accredited tech-nology extension provider, dur-ing the 26th anniversary celebra-tion of the Department ofAgriculture’s Agricultural TrainingInstitute (ATI), January 28, 2013.

The DA chief said Costalesowns a ‘nature farm’ in Majayjay,Laguna, frequently visited by Fili-pino and foreign tourists, andboasts of being the first agri-tour-ism site accredited by the De-partment of Tourism.

He was chosen as thecountry’s best organic farmer in2012, under the Gawad Saka,sponsored by the DA honoringthe country’s outstanding achiev-ers in agriculture and fisheries.He is also considered a‘magsasaka-siyentista’ by boththe DA and DOST.His farm fea-tures an integrated natural farm-ing system producing organicvegetables, fruits, fish, poultryand livestock. Costales hasadopted Japanese and Koreannatural farming systems.

Secretary Alcala said he wantsto see more Costales’s in theyears to come, as the Aquinogovernment promotes both agri-culture and tourism.In fact, Presi-dent Aquino cited agriculture andtourism as priority investmentsareas in the country, during aspeech at the World EconomicForum, in Davos, Switzerland.The forum was held on January23 to 27, 2013.

(Pls see story on page 9.)During the ATI anniversary,

Secretary Alcala also inaugu-(Pls turn to p11)

4

Secretary Alcala (standing) urges top DA officials to harmonize theirefforts and resources in crafting a comprehensive disaster prepared-ness, response and rehabilitation program to cushion off the de-structive impacts of typhoons and floods on the country’s agricul-ture and fishery sector. He said the entire DA family should be pre-pared to surmount the challenges posed by natural calamities andprotect the gains and livelihood of the country’s farmers andfisherfolk, including public investments like irrigation systems,postharvest facilities, and farm-to-market roads. He issued the di-rective during a disaster preparedness workshop, January 17-19,2013, at the PICC in Manila, attended by 300 participants.

DA crafts disaster ... (from p 1)

day orientation and workshop ondisaster preparedness, responseand rehabilitation, at the PICC,in Manila.

“We hope to come up with abetter, more effective schemethat would serve as a templatefor centralized and organizedreporting before, during, and af-ter calamities or disasters. Itcould serve as a model for ourASEAN neighbors, who are like-wise visited by tropical stormsand typhoons during monsoonseason,” the DA chief said.

On the aftermath of typhoon‘Pablo’ in Davao region, Secre-tary Alcala commended the DAregional directors in Mindanaoand Visayas who took the initia-tive of providing farm inputs andmachinery to enable affectedfarmers and f isherfolk inCompostela Valley, Davao Ori-ental, del Norte and del Sur, andDavao City recover and startanew.

He said as result of the quickresponse and coordination of DAregional directors in five regions(10, 12, 13, 6 and 7), they wereable to mobilize an initial 16 4-wheel tractors and deployedthem to typhoon affected towns

in Davao region. (Pls see relatedstories on page 5.)

He designated assistant sec-retary and national rice programcoordinator Dante Delima tohead ‘Task Force Alayon’ thatoversees and implements the re-habilitation of farming and fish-ing communities affected by ty-phoon ‘Pablo.’

The workshop was attendedby 300 DA family officials, led byDA undersecretary for opera-tions Joel S. Rudinas, assistantsecretaries Delima, Edilberto deLuna (for corn), and SalvadorSalacup (for fisheries).

The participants includedheads of DA bureaus and at-tached agencies, and nationaland regional coordinators ofcommodity banner programs(rice, corn, high value crops, fish-eries and livestock), and regionaldirectors of DA, Bureau of Fish-eries and Aquatic Resources(BFAR), National Irrigation Ad-ministration (NIA), and PhilippineCoconut Authority (PCA).

During the three-day work-shop, they briefed on theweather bulletins and impacts,and climate outlook for the 1st

quarter of 2013 by weather spe-

Agriculture Secretary ProcesoJ. Alcala has instructed thecountry’s agricultural attaches tofind ways to increase exports ofPhilippine farm and fishery prod-ucts, and improve the country’sbalance of trade.

“Help conclude trade transac-tions. Understand our productsand find ways to break barriersfor the benefit our farmers, fish-ers and agri-fishery stakehold-ers,” said Secretary Alcala, dur-ing his recent meeting with theDA’s foreign agriculture servicecorps (FASC).

“In one of my meetings with thePresident, he pointed out that wehave unfavorable balance oftrade in agriculture with so manycountries. I acknowledged thatthe DA has not given enough at-tention and effort on this. This isone of your immediate tasks –to look into the existing trade re-lations, and find ways to improveour balance of trade in agricul-ture,” the DA chief noted.

Currently, the DA has 12 agri-culture attaches deployed ineight countries, namely: Wash-ington, USA; Beijing, China;Dubai, UAE; Brussels, Belgium;Bangkok, Thailand; Rome, Italy;Tokyo, Japan; and Geneva, Swit-zerland.

He also urged them to go be-yond the initial trial exports byhelping the private sector sustainexporting non-traditional prod-ucts like fancy and aromatic rice,and meat products, as the Phil-ippines remains free from thefoot and mouth disease (FMD)and avian flu.

“Assist them by finding out therequirements and procedures intarget markets,” he noted.

Further, he asked them to helppromote Philippine organic agri-culture products by linking Fili-pino producers and processorswith prospective exporters, andhelping them comply with re-quirements in target markets.

In 2011, the country’s totalfarm imports reached $7.78 bil-lion (B) versus $5.39B worth ofexports, for a trade balance of$2.39B, according to the Na-tional Statistics Office (NSO).

Among its five major tradingpartners, however, the Philip-pines enjoys a positive balanceof agricultural trade with Japanand the European Union (EU) at$515 million and $460 million,respectively, NSO figures show.The country’s other major trad-ing partners are the USA,ASEAN and Australia.

DA chief asks agri attachesto increase farm exports

Farm exports toJapan in 2011 to-taled $652 million,led by banana($250M), coconutoil ($77M), pine-apple ($51M),sugar ($44M) andtuna ($28M). ThePhilippines im-ported $136-mil-lion worth of Japa-nese agriculturalproducts in 2011,led by fertilizers($52M).

The Philippinesexported to Europe variousagricultural products worth$1.066 billion, led by coconut oil($600M), tuna ($91M),seaweeds and carageenan($45M), dessicated coconut($42M), and pineapple products($11M).

On the other hand, the coun-try imported $606M worth of Eu-ropean farm items, led by milkand milk products ($44M).

Finally, the DA chief asked theagricultural attaches to submittheir respective 2013 plans andtargets, and provide him updatesand breakthroughs in trade ne-

gotiations.The agricultural attaches came

over for their biennial meetingwith the DA Secretary and brief-ing with other DA family agencies

and officials, from January 14 to22, 2013. They also visited sev-eral DA regional offices andprojects in Davao, Iloilo andAklan.

cialist Vicente Manalo III of thePhilippine Atmospheric, Geo-physical and Astronomical Ser-vices Administration (PAGASA).

Undersec-retary Rudinas alsodiscussed the imperatives ofbuilding a responsive DA-widedisaster risk reduction and man-agement organization.

For his part, Assistant Secre-tary Delima talked on making anearly and quick recovery from adisaster, and updated the partici-pants sharing the DA’s initiativesin Davao after typhoon ‘Pablo.’

The DA also invited DirectorCarmencita Delantar of the De-partment of Budget and Manage-ment, who discussed ‘fundingdisaster risk reduction’ interven-tions and projects.

The participants were alsobriefed on how to properly con-duct damage and loss assess-ment, and discussed throughtheir respective workshopgroups several major concernslike: organization and protocols;early recovery, mid- and long-term rehabilitation; damage andloss assessment; and computa-tion of damages.

January 2013 5

The Department of Agriculturehas to date allotted P620 millionto sustain efforts of rehabilitatingand putting back into productiveuse thousands of hectares offarmlands in Davao region dam-aged by typhoon ‘Pablo’ last De-cember 2013.

In a report to SecretaryProceso J. Alcala, DA Davao re-gional director Remelyn Recotersaid the amount is composed oftwo tranches, the first amountedto P230 million which was usedfor speedy interventions, and thebalance of P390 million is allot-ted for medium- and long-termprojects.

The ‘first wave’ of assistanceincluded provision of seeds (rice,corn, vegetables), planting mate-rials (durian, rambutan, lanzones,cacao, soybean, cassava seedpieces), veterinary supplies forlivestock, mobilization of para-veterinarians, motorized andnon-motorized bancas, and newstocks of swine, breeder goats,carabao, and native chicken.

Of the P260-M initial rehabili-tation fund, P100 M will be usedto repair damaged small scale,communal and river irrigationprojects, as flatbed dryers, andprovision of farm tractors, othermachinery and equipment.

Another P33.35M was used toassist small banana farmersthrough the provision of newplanting materials, fertilizers,farm tools and equipment, andcash-for-work clearing and plant-ing activities worth P1,500 perhectare, not exceeding five hect-ares. The DA will provide thesame cash-for-work rate shouldfarmers decide to convert theirbanana farms and plant rice, ca-cao, corn or other crops, said Di-rector Recoter.

The DA also provided fuel andgas subsidy for tractors that wereused for clearing and land prepa-ration activities in the provincesof Davao Oriental, CompostelaValley and Davao del Norte.

Director Recoter said of the‘second wave’ of interventionsworth P390 million, P100M is al-located for the rehabilitation ofsmall water impounding projects(SWIPs), and flatbed dryers andwarehouses, establishment oftwo rice processing complex(worth P15M each), and provi-sion of shallow tube wells(STWs), surface pumps and four-wheel tractors.

The DA will provide trainingand funds for the construction ofpaddy dikes, and other cash-for-work activities, which will be donein coordination with the NIA and

The DA Region 12 (Soccsksargen), led by Dir. Amalia Datukan,has extended assistance to help rehabilitate typhoon Pablo affectedfarms in Davao region, by lending eight units of 4-wheel drivetractors. Photo shows two of the tractors prepare farm paddies inCompostela. (Photo by DA-RAFID 12)

DA allots P620M to rehab ‘Pablo’ affected farmsDSWD.

The DA will continue to providefarmers assorted vegetablesseeds, seedlings of cacao, cof-fee and rubber, seeds hybrid cornand white corn, corn mill, and fuelsubsidy for corn field preparation.

As for long-term interventions,the DA will conduct a series oftraining on providing ‘disastermedical services,’ and establish-ment of ‘sagip-hayop’ shelters. Itwill also continue to distributeveterinary drugs, biologics andfeed supplements, rehabilitatedamaged abattoirs, and establishprovincial native chicken hatch-ery and dispersal center, and ar-tificial insemination centers.

The DA through the PhilippineCoconut Authority (PCA) will con-tinue to clear damaged coconutareas, transform felled trees intococonut lumber, conduct coconutreplanting and fertilization, andimplement a biological rhino con-trol program.

Meanwhile, the DA through Ag-ricultural Credit and Policy Coun-cil (ACPC) has implemented aspecial agricultural financing for‘Pablo’ affected farmers andfisherfolk, who can borrow up toP150,000 to rehabilitate their

... seeks additional P1.6B from DBMTo sustain the rehabilitation

and restoration of damagedfarms and rural infrastructureparticularly irrigation systems,the DA has requested the De-partment of Budget and Manage-ment (DBM) for an additionalbudget of P1.6 billion (B).

Agriculture Assistant Secre-tary and Task Force ‘Alayon’chair Dante Delima said theamount is needed to completethe rehabilitation operations.

He said as of January 8, 2013,about P155 million in the form ofpalay and corn seeds, fruit treesand coconut planting materials,farm tools and equipment, amongothers, have already been turned-over to different farmers’ groups inthe typhoon-ravaged areas.

He said 15,900 bags of certi-fied palay seeds were sourcedfrom other rice producing prov-inces in Regions 8, 10, 11, 12and 13, and were delivered toaffected areas.

For corn, 16,520 bags of openpollinated variety (OPV) seedsare set to be delivered, too.

Of the proposed P1.6 B addi-tional budget, the DA plans to al-locate P726 M for the repair ofirrigation systems, P337 M forcoconut, P134 M for livestock,P112 M for rice, P91 M for corn,

P32 M for high value crops,P30M for abaca, P29 M for fish-ery interventions through theBureau of Fisheries and AquaticResources; P1 M for the Bureauof Plant Industry and P322,500for the Agricultural Training Insti-tute.

farms, fishponds, fish cages orbuy new fishing boat and para-phernalia.

The loan, which carries aneight percent interest plus fourpercent service fee, should bepaid fully within a year.

The DA has also provided theinterventions to help small ba-nana growers, which included:cash for work - through clearing

Complying with the instructionof Secretary Alcala, the NationalFood Authority (NFA) will buymore palay this year.

Newly-installed NFA Adminis-trator Orlan A. Calayag said theagency will buy up to 615,985metric tons (MT) of palay thisyear.

“For us to finally achieve riceself sufficiency, we need to helpour farmers produce more andprovide a ready market for theirproduce,” Calayag said.

He said the NFA will implementnew procurement strategies toencourage more farmers to selltheir harvest to the food agencyinstead of through private trad-ers.

To start with, the NFA will lendempty sacks to farmers’ organi-zations, deploy and operatepalay buying stations in far-flungareas, coordinate with the Mu-

NFA to buy more palay this year

(Pls turn to p11)

operations of their farms, at P1,500/ha for a maximum of 5hectares, fertilizer and farmtools; and cash for work - throughconversion of their banana farmsinto rice or cacao. These inter-ventions were done in collabo-ration with the Provincial Govern-ments and DSWD, said Dir.Recoter. (DA Region 11 Info Div.& DA-AFIS)

He said total damage causedby typhoon Pablo reached morethan P30B, with Compostela Val-ley bearing the brunt with dam-ages pegged at P13 B; followedby Davao Oriental at P10 B andDavao del Norte at P6 B. Davaodel Sur and Davao City sufferedminimal losses.

nicipal Agriculture Office (MAO)and survey areas where harvest-ing is ongoing, and deploy mo-bile procurement teams espe-cially in areas where palayfarmgate prices are low.

Currently, the agency buysclean and dry palay at P17 perkilo (kg). It gives additional incen-tives, totalling up to P1 per kg,that include graduated deliveryfee up to P0.50/kg, drying incen-tive fee of P0.20/kg, and CDIFof P0.30/kg.

“We need to give farmers abetter deal so they would be mo-tivated to produce more,”Calayag said.

The NFA has also simplified itsrequirements so it could servemore farmers.

Individual farmers need onlysubmit to NFA a certification fromeither their MAO or Municipal

6

At the foot of Sierra MadreMountains, the longest range inthe country, rests the humblevillage of Barangay Belancewhich is part of the Dupax delNorte town. Its unlikely loca-tion, keeps it isolated fromNueva Vizcaya’s businessarea.

The village is populated byIgorots and Bugkalots fromBenguets, Ilokanos andTagalogs who migrated in thearea during the late 70’s and80’s and worked under compa-nies which are engaged inlogging and sawmills. Theresidents rely mainly from theirlocal produce.

Life is generally poor ascharacterized by the backwardagricultural economy and poorinfrastructures especially roadnetworks. To reach the nearestpublic market, residents needto take 1 ½ hour jeepney ridesand spend P140 in fare. Thus,commodities sold in the areaare marked up at exorbitantprices.Overcoming all adversities

The seemingly unbearablesituation pushed the members

of the St. Joseph Parish Multi-Purpose Cooperative(SJPMPC) to seek assistancefrom the government, and onDecember 28, 2010, theirrequest for a barangay foodterminal (BFT) was granted bythe Department of Agriculture(DA).

By Catherine NantaSt. Joseph BFT: A food hub at the foot of Sierra MadreInitially, the group received

P166, 315.50 in funding. Halfof the amount was used toprocure goods to be sold in theBFT, while theremaining amountwas used to buyfacilities andequipment, andwas allotted forthe store’soperating ex-penses.

The BarangayBelance FoodTerminal, hence,became a tradingcenter where localfarmers andproducers canbring and sell theirproducts. It wasan outlet forhomegrownvegetables andlivestock whichbrought opportuni-ties for the localhouseholds toearn additional income.

The food depot supplies thecommunity with agricultural andfishery products such as

vegetables, fruits, fish meat,poultry, rice, dried fish, sugar,cooking oil and beans, whichare readily available to custom-ers. Apart from helping thefarmers in marketing theirproduce, the terminal alsoprovides technical and financialassistance to farmers.

Along with this, the BFTprovides regular employment tosix staff and apportions a partof their income to a community

development fund. The resi-dents, on the other hand, areable to save from transporta-tion expenses and buy high-

quality goods thatare generallycheaper thanthose sold at thenearest market

From its initialfunding, theBelance BFT hasdoubled its assetsand monthlyincome reachedP38, 828.45 aftera year of opera-tion. The incomeis equitablyshared amongmembers throughthe distribution ofdividends andpatronage refund.

Continuouslyserving the

people’s needDuring the onslaught of

typhoons Pedring and Quiel,Barangay Belance was amongthe many areas in Region IIisolated due to landslide.Fortunately, the BFT was ableto provide the basic food needsof the community. It was alsoable to share 20% of its income

to the members thru a patron-age refund. At the same time, itwas able to contribute 10% of

their income to the communitydevelopment fund.

To date, the BFT has estab-lished linkage to 35 vegetableproducers, one supplier of fish,14 hog raisers, and seven fruitsuppliers thereby, ensuring acontinuous supply of commodi-ties not only for the localcommunity but also for theresidents of the neighboringbarangays.

To improve its service to theconsumers and members ofthe cooperative, SJPMPC hasstarted the construction of aslaughterhouse at the back ofthe food terminal building.Likewise, three satellitestores—in Binuangan, Oyao,and Macabenga, all in Dupaxdel Norte—are underway. Theco-op is also planning toventure into vegetable process-ing to minimize losses and adda source of income.

With its continuous dedica-tion to the local residents, theBFT was recently ranked asamong the Most OutstandingBarangay Food TerminalProjects in the Gawad SakaNational Search, a proof thatadversities must not hindersuccess but open opportuni-ties.

Residents in the barangayand neighboring villages buytheir food supply at the BFT.Members of St. Joseph BFTare patronizing the projectdue to the patronage refund/incentive they can get.

Various greens, fruits and,vegetables are sold at the BFT.

January 2013 7

The Bureau of Plant Industry(BPI) plays a major role in thegovernment’s goal to attain foodsuff iciency, particularly insustaining the growth anddevelopment of the country’scrop industry.

Thus said Secretary Alcala, ashe commended the men andwomen of the BPI, led byDirector Clarito Barron, duringthe agency’s 83rd anniversarycelebration, January 24, 2013, inSan Andres, Manila.

He said the DA through theBPI, in partnership with farmers’groups and the private sector,has contributed in the sustainedgrowth and development of thecountry’s crop industry, whichlast year grew by 4.1 percent,with a total value of P797.7 billionat current prices.

The crop subsectorcontributed more than one-half(51.5%) of the total agricultureproduction, which increased by2.92% last year, despite severaltyphoons that hit the country.

The DA chief also urged themen and women of the DA-BPIto be pro-active in providingneeded services andinterventions to make thecountry’s crop sector ‘climate-smart’ and compliant tointernational food safetystandards, and further enhancethe competitiveness of Philippinefruits and vegetables in the worldmarket.

“Let’s protect diligently ourborder’s safety. Not only forthose products we import, butalso for those we export,”Secretary Alcala said. The agrichief also ask the plantquarantine off icers tocommunicate to him whateverintervention needs to be done,to swiftly resolve major issuesand concerns.

One of the pioneer bureausunder the Department, the BPIis mandated to provide farmersand crop industry stakeholdersvarious technical services andassistance. These include plantgenetic resource conservationand management; conduct ofresearches to improve cropfarming systems; production ofquality seeds and plantingmaterials; enforcement of plantquarantine laws, rules andregulations; and development ofprocessing technologies onutilization of agricultural cropsand its by-products.

The agency also providestechnical services on farmmechanization, physico-chemical, microbiological and

Secretary Alcala (right) leads a ceremonial ribbon-cutting to kickoff the 83rdanniversary celebration of the Bureau of Plant Industry,January 24, 2013, in San Andres, Manila, with thetheme: “Organikong  Paghahalaman: Magsasaka’y  kikita,kapaligiran sasagana.” Joining him (from right) are BPI DirectorClarito Barron, DA-High Value Crops Development ProgramDirector Jennifer Remoquillo, BPI Assistant Director HenryCarpiso, Mrs. Felisa Carpiso and Mrs. Pacita Barron.

Starting school year 2013-2014, the DA through theSugar Regulatory Administra-tion (SRA) will help deservingstudents pursue and completetheir respective academic de-grees in college and post-graduate levels.

It is open to college stu-dents, including those whopursue post-graduatecourses, enrolled in the Uni-versity of the Philippines atLos Banos, or in other repu-table academic institutions.

They should pursue the fol-lowing courses: agriculture,agriculture engineering,chemical engineering-sugartechnology, chemistry and ag-ricultural extension;

Those currently enrolled(from freshmen to junior years)are qualified to apply, includ-ing graduating high schoolsstudents, as well as those pur-suing masteral and doctoratedegrees.

Through the scholarshipprogram, the SRA aims to pro-duce competent technical andextension, and thus help sus-tain a strong agricultural andindustrial research and devel-opment program which willpropel the Philippine sugar in-dustry to stability and competi-tiveness in the coming years.

Successful applicants willreceive financial assistance,benefits and other privileges,like free tuition/miscellaneousfees and allowances forbooks, clothing, transporta-tion, medical expenses, sub-sistence, and other expenses.

Applicants should be natu-ral-born Filipino citizens, pref-erably dependents of sugar-cane farmers or sugar indus-try workers.

They should not be recipi-ents of other scholarships, andmore than 21 years old (forthose pursuing undergraduatedegrees) or 40 years old (forMasters’ Degree candidates)and 45 years old (for Ph. D).

For 4th year high school stu-dents, they should belong tothe upper 10% of the gradu-ating class. They should havepassed the University of thePhilippines College AdmissionTest (UPCAT);

Their annual gross familyincome should not be morethan P250,000.

For details, please call SRAat tel nos. 455-0446 or 0920-9090231. (DA-SRA)

BPI plays key role in food sufficiency program

pesticide residue analysis, seedtesting and seed certification,and pest surveillance, control,management and forecasting.

During the anniversaryprogram, Secretary Alcalapresented awards andcommendations to outstandingBPI employees, distributedseeds of organic and aromaticrice varieties to farmers,including fruits and vegetablesproduction guides.

For his part, Director Barroncited the agency’s majormilestones and accomplish-ments, including the conduct of

SRA to sponsoragri scholars

more than 100 research studieson crop varietal development.

The BPI also imposed strictermeasures to ensure that thecountry’s fruits and vegetablesfor both domestic and exportmarkets are free from insectsand diseases.

In particular, it issued a newset of guidelines in theaccreditation of exporters,traders, growers, and packingfacilities for export of fruits andvegetables. To date, the BPI hasaccredited 59 banana exporters,431 banana growers, 74 packingfacility operators, and 422packing facilities. (DAInformation Service)DA-PCA ... (from p 3)

KAANIB sites nationwide, andabout 100 more sites will be es-tablished this year,” said Admin-istrator Forbes.

“We expect that this project willencourage other coconut farm-ers to adopt and replicate theKAANIB coconut integratedfarming system,” he added.

This year, the DA-PCA will alsofocus its replanting initiatives inother suitable areas such as theIlocos Region, Cagayan Valley,and the Cordilleras.

The PCA implements its plant-ing and replanting programthrough the participatory coconutplanting program (PCPP), acash-for-work program whereineach farmer-participant is paidP20 per seedling produced in anursery and another P20 after itis planted and grown in the farm.(Marlo Asis, DA Information Service)

The Department of Agriculturein Region 12 has to date pro-vided at least 14,700 assortedplanting materials in support tothe National Greening Program,led by by the Department of En-vironment and Natural Re-sources.

Director Amalia Jayag-Datukan said all of the regionalofficers and staff have joined treeplanting activities in the cities ofKoronadal and General SantosCity, where they provided andplanted seedlings of coffee,durian, marang, mango,lanzones, rambutan, coconut,cacao and other fruit-bearingtrees. These were produced byDA-12 crop research stations.(DA 12 Info Div.)

DA-12 supports‘greening’ program

8

Agriculture Secretary ProcesoJ. Alcala led the regional launchof the ‘National Year of Rice’ orNYR advocacy campaign, Janu-ary 31, 2013, in Naga City, andthanked Bicolano farmers andother agriculture stakeholdersfor doing their share in ensur-ing that the country attains ricesufficiency by end of 2013.

He assured them that the DAin partnership with farmers’groups, local government unitsand the private sector is on trackin attaining said goal.

Addressing some 2,000 farm-ers, consumers, retailers,fisherfolk and other agri-stake-holders, at the J.M. RobredoColiseum in Naga City, SecretaryAlcala said Bicol is one of theregions that has already attainedrice sufficiency, and even ex-ceeded its target. As of last year,it recorded a 113% sufficiencylevel.

At the national level, rice pro-duction has increased by 8%from 16.68 million metric tons in2011 to 18.03 million metric tonslast year. It was highest rate ofincrease recorded in the past 12years.

During the event, he instructedDA Bicol regional officials toraffle off P1.3-million worth offarm items, which included: twounits hand tractors with trailer,worth P130,00 each; two unitsthreshers (P85,000 each); twocarabaos with implements(P33,000 each); 400 pieceslaminated sacks (P500 each),300 bags of palay seeds (P1,200each); 24 bags of open polli-nated corn seeds (P700 each);and 400 fruit bearing pili trees(P20 each).

The DA-BFAR also raffled offfive units of 16-HP engine formotorized banca (P30,000 each)and 25 units gillnets (P3,000each).

DA chief leads NYR launch in Bicoli

Secretary Alcala (inset) enjoins 2,000 Bicolano farmers (foreground) and other rice industry stake-holders to continue working together to further boost the region’s distinction as a surplus rice pro-ducer, during the launch of ‘National Year of Rice’ or NYR advocacy campaign, January 31, 2013, atthe J.M. Robredo Coliseum, in Naga City. Last year, Bicol produced more than 1.17 million metrictons of palay, 9.6% more than in 2011, posting a 113% sufficiency level.

The Philippine Coconut Au-thority through deputy adminis-trator Roel M. Rosales alsoturned over P415,800 worth ofchecks as incentives for 68farmers, who planted a total of29,700 coconut seedlings. Thechecks were received byTinambac municipal councillorFrancisco Alvarez, on behalf ofthe farmer-beneficiaries.

During the program, AssistantSecretary Dante S. de Lima, na-tional rice program coordinator,presented the overview of theFood Staples Sufficiency Pro-gram.

For his part, Dr. Eufemio T.Rasco Jr., executive director ofPhilippine Rice Research Insti-

tute (PhilRice), who is aBicolano, discussed the ratio-nale and planned activities ofthe NYR campaign.

The observance of the Na-tional Year of Rice was declaredby President Benigno S. AquinoIII last year to enjoin farmers,consumers and other stakehold-ers to complement the efforts ofgovernment in attaining self-suf-ficiency, raise public awarenesson responsible rice consump-tion, and boost farmer’s moraleand motivate them to adopt tech-nologies and good practices toimprove farm productivity.

During the NYR launch, the DAchief was also joined by NagaCity Mayor John S. Bongat, Atty.

Leny G. Robredo (wife of thelate DILG Sec. Jesse Robredo),DA assistant secretaries Salva-dor S. Salacup and Edilberto M.de Luna, PCA deputy adminis-trator Rosales, NIA administra-tor Antonio S. Nangel, PhilMechexecutive director Rex L.Bingabing, newly-assumed DABicol regional director Engr.Abelardo Bragas, out-going DA-Regn 5 Dr. Jose V. Dayao, BFARRegn 5 director Dennis delSocorro, PCA regional directorEduardo Allorde, NIA regionalDirector William Ragodon, DARegional technical director forOperations and Extension andfocal person for the Rice Pro-gram Dr. Elena B. de los Santos

and heads of DA at-tached agencies in theregion.

A techno clinic par-ticipated by DA at-tached agencies likeNFA, NIA, PhilMech,PhilRice, BSWM andPCIC was also heldduring the NYRlaunch which affordedthe participants the op-portunity to consultand relay their issuesand concerns to thevarious DA attachedagencies who partici-pated in the event.(Emily B. Bordado, DARegn 5 Info Div.).

Farmers recite the ‘Panatang Makaipalay,’ as other participants sign anNYR commitment board.

January 2013 9

The NYR was also launchedin Region 4-B (Mimaropa), onJanuary 27, 2013, during the“Dugoy Festival” at the SablayanSports Complex, in OccidentalMindoro.

The launch kicked off with aparade and street dancing par-ticipated in by hundreds of farm-ers, ruralfolk, local governmentofficials, government employees,mediapersons and students from22 barangays in Sablayan.

The ceremony started with theentrance of colors, led by theSablayan National Comprehen-sive High School (SABNAHIS)students, followed by the unveil-ing of the NYR tarpaulin, led bySablayan Mayor Eduardo B.Gadiano, Vice Mayor Andres D.Dangeros, municipal agricultur-ist Lina T. de Leon, and DA 4-Brice focal person TheresaAguilar.

PhilRice staffmembersSheeren Razon and JoyBartolome Duldulao gave anoverview of NYR and discussedthe respective roles of farmers,policy-makers and the generalpublic on the NYR advocacycampaign, focusing on prudentrice consumption.

Another highlight of the launchwas an intermission number ofSABNAHIS students who per-formed a dance rice festival, fol-lowed by a recitation of‘Panatang MakaPalay’ led byMayor Gadiano.

In response to the NYR cam-paign, Mayor Gadiano said theLGU of Sablayan has issued apolicy requiring school canteenand restaurant operators to of-fer also half-a-cup rice servings,to give consumers an option tolimit their rice intake.

“Ang Bayan ng Sablayan aymalaki ang kontribusyon sapagpapanatili ng kasapatan sabigas sa Pilipinas.

“Makilahok ang lahat sa‘Panatang MakaPalay’ at ipakitaang pagmamahal sa ating palayat bigas, at isa-puso ang ibig

...in Sablayan, Occidental Mindorosabihin sa nasasaad saPanatang MakaPalay,” MayorGadiano said.

For his part, Vice MayorDangeros told the crowd:“Isulong at ating suportahan anglahat ng programangpangsakahan.”

NYR tarpaulins were installedat lamp posts and at the entryand exit of the municipality.

The event was a joint under-taking of the DA4-B, LGU ofSablayan, and the Department ofEducation and Culture headedby Mr. Arnaldo Ventura ofSABNAHIS.

The DA-4B distributed t-shirts,caps and calendars during theparade.

NYR slogan contests werealso conducted in schools, andthe winning slogans were show-cased during the parade. (DA 4-B Info Div.)

Municipal officials of Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro, led by MayorEduardo Gadiano, unveil the ‘National Year of Rice’ (NYR) tarp,as students look on.

President Benigno S. AquinoIII has invited European globalbusiness leaders at the WorldEconomic Forum (WEF) annualmeeting in Davos, Switzerland,to explore potential areas of in-vestments in the Philippines, ashe cited some of the reforms ini-tiated by the government toachieve inclusive growth.

He urged them to invest inthree priority sectors: agriculture,tourism and infrastructure.

“All three sectors represent ar-eas that are already exhibitingrapid growth, among others thathave shown resilience andstrength over the past years,” hesaid.

In the agriculture sector, thePresident said, the Philippines ison its way to becoming a rice ex-porter.

“Since I came into office, our

P-Noy invites global leaders to invest in Phlgovernment has been workingtowards rice self-sufficiency bygoing back to the basics andhelping our farmers through im-proved irrigation systems and agenuine certified seeds pro-gram,” the President said.

“Rice production has been in-creasing, and through thesemethods, we are on our way to-wards our next goal: becomingan exporter of rice,” he added.

On the country’s revitalized co-conut industry, President Aquinosaid that in 2011, the Philippineshas exported more than 16.7million liters of coco water, upfrom the 483,862 liters of cocowater in 2009.

He noted that that the cococoir fiber, transformed into geo-textile materials, has among oth-

ers, been found effective in ero-sion control. He added that theDPWH is already using this tech-nology in their projects.

The President invited the busi-nessmen here to meet with theircounterparts in the Philippinebusiness community to knowwhat the investment opportuni-ties are, and learn from their ex-perience of doing business un-der the Aquino administration.

“Those who have already beton the Philippines have not beendisappointed; they have seen thesincerity of our commitment torestoring integrity and levellingthe playing field,” the Presidentsaid. “This is a commitment weintend to keep with all who wantto conduct honest, fair businessin the Philippines.” (Presidential News Desk)

The Department of Agriculturewill enter into a bilateral agree-ment with Seychelles, an Africanisland-nation in the IndianOcean, on agriculture and fish-eries this year.

Secretary Proceso J. Alcala,Alcala, who recently met with theSeychellois Ambassador to thePhilippines Philippe Le Gall, saidthe Philippines could export vari-ous food products to Seychelles,which in turn could grant thePhilippines access to fish inSeychelles waters, in the IndianOcean.

The African state is a group ofislands. It has abundant marine

RP, Seychelles to forge agri-fishery dealresources.

“We can be granted fishing ac-cess there,” Secretary Alcalasaid.

The DA is exploring talks towith several Asia-Pacific, includ-ing Indian Ocean countries likeSeychelles, to seek rights tocatch marine species, that in-clude tuna.

The DA forecasts that thecountry’s fishery production willrecover starting second half of2013, as its conservation mea-sures by imposing ‘closed fish-ing season’ in Zamboanga Pen-insula and the Visayan Sea willresult to more fish productionand catch.

10

In great contrast to the low-key profile that Dir. Jose V.Dayao has maintained throughall the years he had served theDepartment of Agriculture, thetribute and send off party givenhim by the DA family was gran-diose and attended by high pro-file personalities and top brassof the DAofficialdom.

The tributewas held afterdinner on Janu-ary 30, whileSecretary Alcalaand DA top offi-cials were gath-ered in LegaspiCity for the firstquarter in-houseM a na g e m e ntC o n f e r e n c e(MANCOM) . Itwas Dir. Dayao’swish that beforehe retires he begiven thechance to hostthe MANCOMin Bicol. And hiswish wasgranted. He was all agog as heoversees all the preparation forthe MANCOM saying it wouldbe his “last full show” before heexits quietly from governmentservice comes April.

Unknown to Dir. Dayao, the

DA family honors Dir. Jose V. Dayao Dir. and Mrs. Dayao (seated) areflanked by Secretary Alcala

(extreme left) and the DA region5 officials and personnel.

regional staff in connivance withthe staff of Sec. Alcala hadplanned to stage the tribute dur-ing the MANCOM. While theregional personnel were busypreparing for the MANCOM theywere also busy preparing thevideo presentation and rehears-ing the dance and musical num-

bers for the fellowship cum trib-ute.

The occasion was held at theposh Oriental Hotels which over-looks Legaspi City, Albay gulfand a magnificent view of Mayonvolcano . Aside from Secretary

Alcala also present were theundersecretaries, assistant sec-retaries, national program coor-dinators, executive directors ofDA attached agencies and all theregional executive directors fromthe 14 regions. Albay governorand RDCC chair Joey Salceda,Catanduanes governor Cua,Legaspi City mayor GeraldineRosal and former mayor andcurrently city administrator NoelRosal and Mrs. Violeta M.Dayao alsograced the oc-casion.

S e c re ta r yA l c a l aawarded Dir.Dayao with aplaque of com-mendation forhis dedicatedservice and hisvaluable con-tribution to thea g r i c u l t u r esector: attain-ment of riceself-sufficiencyin rice from2009 to date;garnered 14National Gawad Saka Awards;revivedg interest on Bicol’s flag-ship commodities specifically pili,queen, pineapple, abaca and co-conut; mainatained the Interna-tional Status of Bicol as FMD-free; successful and efficientimplementation of several for-eign assisted projects and ;mainstreaming the Disaster RiskReduction and Climate Changeadaptation methods in agricul-tural programs and projects.

Governor Salceda com-mended Dir. Dayao for his dedi-cation and for always beingavailable, accessible and readyeven in times of calamity. “Purework” is what best defines Dir.Dayao according to Salceda.

He added that with all the sup-port he has been getting from DAhe considers the agency not onlya partner but “a family.”

In his response Dir. Dayaosaid that it was his decision andvolition that he chose the roadless travelled – to stay in thegovernment sector instead ofbeing in the private sector or try-ing his luck abroad. Despite thedifficulties and frustrations hepersevered, and plod on and as

he nears the end of his journey,he says ‘It has been a road worthtravelling and fulfilling as it isreplete with learnings and expe-riences.

Dir. Dayao is true bloodedBicolano and finished his doc-tor of veterinary medicine de-gree at UP Diliman and has aCESO eligibility. He will turn 65on July 22, 2013 but opted toretire earlier on April 1, this year.Although soft-spoken and fraillooking he is regarded highly byhis colleagues for his honesty,simple-living and high-sense ofintegrity and prudence in spend-ing government funds. (Emily B.Bordado, DA 5 Info Div Chief)

Secretary Alcala shares some jokes with Dir. ‘Joe,’as his wife Violeta looks on.

Director and Mrs. Dayao dance while theregional staff/personnel cheer on.

Usec. ‘Berna’ Puyat and AMAD Director ‘Dax’Gazmin were declared the pair in ‘Best Retro Cos-tume,’ as part of the tribute to Dir. Dayao. At left ishis successor, Dir. ‘Abe’ Bragas.

11January 2013

ciations (IAs) with registeredstarter seed packs, and estab-lished more community seedbanks, and implemented a re-gional seed buffer stocking sys-tem.

The DA distributed one millionkilograms (kg) of started regis-tered seeds, at P80 per 2-kgpack, to 102,000 farmers’ groupsand IAs, from September 2011to September 2012. From these,they produced 26.5 million kg ofcertified seeds.

Of the total, 6.5 million kgwere distributed to farmers, 3.2million kg were stored in commu-nity seed banks, and the balanceof 16.8 million kg were traded inthe commercial seed market.

The farmer-recipients wereasked to return 1.5 kg of goodseeds for every kilo of certifiedseeds they borrowed from theircommunity seed banks.

Secretary Alcala said the othercontributory factors were the pro-vision of sufficient irrigation, andadequate fertilization.

Central Luzon has remainedthe country’s rice granary, as itproduced 3.22 million tons(MMT), 23% more than in 2011.

The other major producerswere: Cagayan Valley, 2.43MMT; W. Visayas (2.29 MMT);Ilocos (1.74 MMT); Region 12(1.27 MMT); Bicol (1.17 MMT);and Mimaropa (1.03 MMT).

The country’s farmers alsoharvested a record 7.41 million

Agri grows by ... (from p 1)

MT of corn, 6.25% more than the2011 level of 6.97 million MT.

This was mainly due to an in-crease in harvested area, asfarmers were encouraged toplant more because of highfarmgate prices.

Area harvested totaled 2.59million hectares, 1.9% more thanlast year’s 2.54 million hectares.

Average yield has also in-creased by 4.2% to 2.86 MT perhectare, from 2.74 MT per hect-are in 2011. This was due tofarmers’ continued use of qual-ity seeds (hybrid and OPV), ad-equate irrigation, and fertilizerapplication.

On a regional basis, thecountry’s major corn producersare Cagayan Valley, with 1.88MMT, followed by NorthernMindanao (1.23 MMT), Region

12 (1.20 MMT), and ARMM (0.76MMT).

Other crops that performedwell last year included tobacco(up by 7%), pineapple (6.7%),coconut (3.8%), and rubber(4%).

The total value of variouscrops produced in 2012amounted to P797.7 billion (B)at current prices, led by palay(P292 B), banana (P108 B), corn(P94 B), coconut (P88.6 B), andsugarcane (P42.3 B).

The poultry subsector, whichaccounted for 14.3% of total farmoutput, grew by 4.5%, with agross value of P167.1 B.Chicken and chicken eggs re-corded output gains of 4.6% and4.4%, respectively.

Likewise, production of duckand duck eggs has increased by2% and 5.5%, respectively.

rated a Learning and DiscoveryCenter (LeAD) for agricultureand fisheries, which serves as ashowcase for value chain andfarming systems, and innova-tions in organic farming.

He urged farmer-leaders andagriculture industry stakeholdersto adopt organic agriculture tech-nologies to reduce productioncosts and make agriculturalproducts more competitive in theinternational market.

DA eyes ... (from p 3)

Secretary Alcala (3rd from left) shares with the media the performance of the country’s agriculturesector in 2012, which grew by 2.9%. Joining him are (from left) DA Assistant Secretary (A/Sec) RomeoRecide, Undersecretary Segfredo Serrano and A/Sec Salvador Salacup.

Livestock production inchedup by 1.1%, with a gross valueof P214.3B. Hog productiongrew by 1.7%, valued atP174.5B. The livestocksubsector shared 16% to totalfarm output last year.

The f isheries subsectorslightly dipped by 0.04% com-pared to 2011, as municipal fish-ery production decreased by3.9%.

However, aquaculture harvestposted a 2.85% growth, whilecommercial fisheries increasedby 0.23%.

The f isheries subsectorshared 18.2% to total farm out-put, and grossed P237.2 B atcurrent prices.

The DA through the Bureau ofFisheries and Aquatic Re-sources (BFAR) has addressedthe declining fishery productionby enforcing timely ‘closed sea-son’ in targeted fishing areas toallow the regeneration of fishspecies and marine resources.

The DA-BFAR also encour-ages fishing communities to en-gage in aquasilviculture and re-habilitation of mangrove areas.

Finally, the average farmgateprices of palay increased toP16.20 per kilo, up by 6.3%, andcorn, up by 1% to P12.70 perkilo.

Overall, other farm and fisheryproducts have remained afford-

DA Chief swears in new NFA Administrator. SecretaryAlcala (left) swears into office 38-year old Orlan Agbin Calayag,who was recently appointed by President Benigno S. Aquino III asthe new administrator of the DA’s National Food Authority (NFA).The DA chief has instructed Calayag to improve and expand thepalay procurement services of NFA to serve and benefit as manyfarmers as possible, particularly in remote areas. Calayag is a busi-ness marketing graduate at Enverga University in Lucena City,and pursued MBA studies at De La Salle University, Manila. Hepreviously headed an NGO (Progressive Community and Ecologi-cal Services Organization) that assists farmers, fisherfolk, and ruralwomen and youth on livelihood, employment generation and en-vironment protection.

Agrarian Reform Office (MARO),indicating the hectarage plantedto palay and yield per hectareand whether the area cultivatedis irrigated or not.

They can go to the nearestNFA provincial office or satellitebuying station.

Thereafter, qualified farmersare given a free NFA passbook.Farmers can go directly to

Meanwhile, farmers’ coopera-tives, associations or organiza-tions need only submit their reg-istration certificate issued by theCooperative Development Au-thority (CDA), or Securities andExchange Commission (SEC),or any registration certificatefrom concerned governmentagencies.

They should also submit a listof their farmer-members certifiedby the MAO or MARO. (NFA Pub-lic Affairs)

NFA to ... (from p 5)

With the Department of Agri-culture pushing hard to attain ricesufficiency by the end of 2013,the National Irrigation Adminis-tration (NIA) has alloted P1.04billion (B) in Bicol region.

NIA Region 5 Director WilliamP. Ragodon said the amount willbe spent to construct new irriga-tion systems and repair old fa-cilities.

The bulk of the budget,amounting to P740 million, isalloted for an irrigation project inPrieto Diaz, Sorsogon, whileP300 M will be used for a damproject in Minalabac, CamarinesSur.

Ragodon said for theMinabalac project, off iciallycalled Sibagat Small River Irriga-tion Project (SRIP), P60M is al-lotted this year and P240M willbe released next year.

He said the DA and NIA havetargetted to produce about 1.3million metric tons (MT) of palaythis year. This is equivalent toroughly 843,335 MT of milledrice, which is about 20,000 MTmore than the total regional re-quirement of 822,115 MT.

The total regional rice require-ment is computed based on theprojected population of Bicol ofsome 6 million in 2013, and a percapita consumption of 120 kilo-grams (kg) every year.

Ragodon said Bicol has cur-rently 239,660 hectares (ha) ofirrigable areas, of which 121,442ha are currently served or irri-gated.

For his part, NIA AdministratorAntonio S. Nangel said theagency has a total budget ofP24.7B this year.

This will be used to restore andrehabilitate damaged or siltedcanals, repair dams and other ir-rigation system infrastructure;and contruct new irrigationprojects nationwide that will al-together serve new areas, total-ing 150,000 hectares.

He said the restoration andrehabilitation of old sytems, andconstruction of new ones--incombination with other factorssuch as providing farmers withquality seeds, farm machineryand equipment, and postharvestfacilities--will help the countryattain 100 percent sufficiency inrice, which is equivalent to atleast 20 million metric tons.(Bicol Mail)

Bicol gets P1B for2013 NIA projects

DA-DAR launch ... (from p 1)

Agriculture Secretary Proceso J.Alcala, who launched the “Agrar-ian Reform Beneficiaries-Agri-cultural Insurance Program(ARB-AIP),” along with DARUndersecretary Jerry E.Pacturan, January 15, 2013, atthe DA-BSWM in Quezon City.

The insurance coverage willbenefit 224,000 ARBs who till acombined area of 330,000 hect-ares of land and raise 30,700livestock and poultry animals.

Of the targeted beneficiaries,99,580 are rice farmers tilling178,801 hectares; 37,772 corn

farmers, 72,506 hectares; and85,760 commercial crop farmers,78,633 hectares.

Each ARB, tilling up to hect-ares of farm, will be covered fortwo cropping seasons.

To qualify, the ARBs must beparticipants of key DAR pro-grams, like the Agrarian ReformConnectivity and Economic Sup-port Service (ARCCESS), Agrar-ian Production Credit Program(APCP), Credit Assistance Pro-gram for Program BeneficiariesDevelopment (CAP-PBD) andMicrofinance Capacity Develop

Secretary Alcala (left) urges top DA officials to ensure that sufficiency in rice, corn and major staples,is attained this year, during the DA’s 2013 1st quarter national management committee (ManCom)meeting, January 30-31, in Legazpi City. He said while there are still many who doubt that rice suffi-ciency could be attained, President Aquino himself is confident that it could be done. Thus is the bigchallenge to all DA family officials, especially so that 2013 has been declared by President Aquino as‘National Year of Rice.’

ment in Agrarian Reform Areas.For the crop insurance pro-

gram, the DAR will put up P1 bil-lion to subsidize the premium.Of the amount, P533.78 million(M) is alloted for rice farmers,P385.82 M, for corn farmers,P79.09 M for high value cropfarmers, and P1.31 M for live-stock.

For its part, the DA-PCIC willprovide the insurance coverworth P17.07 billion (B). Of thesum, P4.94 B will be for rice, P2B for corn, P2.35 B for commer-cial crops, and P13 M for live-stock.

The PCIC will also provide pro-tection against physical acci-dents or death under its Accidentand Dismemberment SecurityScheme. Up to 155,360 policieswill be issued, of which the pre-mium cost amounting to P5.43M will come from the interest in-come of the DAR-GPS fund. Thiswill provide total coverage of upto P7.77 B.

In case of crop losses due totyphoons and other natural ca-lamities, the DA-PCIC will pro-cess and pay insurance claimswithin 20 days.

Depending on the extent ofcrop damage and the amount ofinvestments, farmers may claimfrom P39,000 to P52,000 perhectare for inbred and hybridrice, respectively; P 28,000 andP40,000 for every hectare ofopen-pollinated and hybrid corn,respectively; and up to P50,000for life and limb. (DA-PCIC)

Secretary Alcala joins hands with Agrarian Reform UndersecretaryJerry Pacturan and DA-Philippine Crop Insurance CorporationPresident Jovy Bernabe after signing the memorandum of agree-ment that will provide up P17-billion worth of crop insurance cov-erage for agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) to be implementedover the next two cropping seasons. The insurance program —covering ARBs who will plant rice, corn, and high value crops, andraise poultry and livestock animals — is the first of its kind and thebiggest group plan ever issued by the DA-PCIC.