Aggie Trends May 2010

8/2/2019 Aggie Trends May 2010

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Vol. XXV No. 5 A Monthly Publication of the Department of Agriculture May 2010

LiLiLiLiLivvvvvestocestocestocestocestock,k,k,k,k, poultrpoultrpoultrpoultrpoultry post gy post gy post gy post gy post gains;ains;ains;ains;ains;crops, fisheries shrinkcrops, fisheries shrinkcrops, fisheries shrinkcrops, fisheries shrinkcrops, fisheries shrink

The countrys livestock andpoultry subsectors posted one-half and two percent (%), re-spectively, during the first quar-ter of 2010, despite the pro-longed dry spell due to El Nio

phenomenon.Overall, the Philippine agricul-

ture contracted by 2.84% dur-ing the three-month period, ac-cording to the Department ofAgricultures Bureau of Agricul-tural Statistics (DA-BAS).

The crops and fisheriessubsectors suffered most, con-tracting by 6.15% and 0.63%,respectively.

The production of palay andcorn dipped by 11.4% to 3.49million metric tons (MT) and16.8% to 1.6 million MT, respec-

tively.At current prices, the totalvalue of production amounted toP315.9 billion, 2.7% higher thanlast years record, the BAS said.

Other crops, however, per-formed well like coconut (up by1.8%), banana (1.3%), mango(3.1%), tobacco (9.7%), cab-bage(3.6%), cassava (7%), to-mato (7%), and onions (11.2%).

Agriculture Secretary BernieG. Fondevilla said the Depart-ment is now reviewing protocolson water management in damsand irrigation systems nation-wide, along with an array of othermeasures, to mitigate the ad-verse effects of future dry spellson Philippine agriculture andfisheries.

Hence, the DA intends to putup more small water impound-ing projects and communal irri-

Hybrid rice farmers defy El Nio,double their yield, incomes

While most farmers in otherEl Nio-hit provinces sufferedwith reduced harvests, those inIsabela and Cagayan were cel-ebrating, particularly those whoplanted hybrid rice.

The reason: They were ableto double their yield and hencetheir incomes, despite the dryspell due to El Nio.

Such feat was proudly re-ported to Agriculture SecretaryBernie G. Fondevilla by Dr.Frisco Malabanan, national co-ordinator of the DAs GinintuangMasaganang Ani (GMA) RiceProgram.

He said 68 Isabela andCagayan farmers, who partici-pated in the DAs hybrid ricetechno-demo project, harvestedan average of 164 cavans ofpalay, at 54 kilograms each percavan, or about 8.86 metric tons(MT) per hectare (ha).

Some of them even harvested

as much as 253 cavans, or13.68 MT/ha.

Malabanan said the farmersused various hybrid rice variet-ies l ike SL-8H, Jolly Rice,Bigante, Mestizo 1, PHB 71,and Rizalina 333.

He added that their averageyield was double than the aver-age harvest of 4.4 MT/ha usinginbred or certified seed varieties.

This translates into an in-crease in profit of at leastP30,000 per hectare from onlyP15,000, he added.

Farmers were able to selltheir dried palay at an averageof P14.00 per kilo, giving thema gross income of roughlyP112,000, for those who har-vested at least 8 MT/ha; and asmuch as P182,000, for thosewho got 13 MT/ha.

In all, during the 2009-2010dry season, Malabanan said atotal of 126,645 hectares wereplanted to hybrid rice nation-wide. Attaining an average yield

of six tons per hectare, such

DA to distributeimported goats

to comml raisers

World 2010 rice prodnmay reach 710 M tons

(Pls turn to p11)

(Pls turn to p11) (Pls turn to p11)(Pls turn to p11)

Agriculture Secretary Bernie G. Fondevilla (3rd from right) cutsthe ceremonial ribbon to open the Farmers and FisherfolksMonth celebration at the DA Central Office in Quezon City, May 6,

2010, honoring the countrys farmers, fishers and other stakehold-ers for their continuing efforts in modernizing Philippine agricul-

ture, and for their contribution to nation-building. Joining him are(from left) Dir. Felix Valenzuela of DA-Livestock Devt. Council,

Dir. Tommy Ala of DA-RFU12, Marylou Fernando of TropicalWinery, DA Asst. Sec. Eduardo Nolasco, Lourdes Labrador ofCastillejos Agri-Farms, and Jill Floro of DA-Phil. Agribusiness

Devt. and Comml. Corp. (Pls read related stories on pages 6-7.)

World production of palay(paddy rice) may reach a recordhigh of 710 million (M) tons thisyear, four percent (%) more thanthe 680 M tons in 2009, accord-ing to the United Nations Foodand Agriculture Organization(FAO).

While highly tentative at thistime of the year, the FAO said

90 percent or 643 M tons of thetotal forecast volume, 29 M tonsmore than in 2009, will comefrom Asia.

The recovery in paddy rice pro-duction will be import-driven,with Asian countries largely be-hind the increase in world riceimports in 2010.

Bangladesh, Iraq, Nepal, SriLanka and the Philippines areexpected to import more, FAOsaid, to offset drought and flood-induced production shortfalls.

Imports by European andLatin American countries are

also set to increase. Rice im-

The Department of Agricul-ture is set to distribute 766head of Saanen and Anglo-Nubiangoats imported fromAustralia to commercial rais-ers to upgrade their local herdfor dairy purposes.

Saanen goats are raisedmainly for milk, while Anglo-Nubians are both for milk andmeat. They can produceabout two liters of milk dailycompared with native breedsthat have lower yields.

The goats were importedby the DAs NationalAgribusiness Corp.(NABCOR), as part of DAs

2010 Q1 Agri Performance


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Malugod na pagbati sabuong sambayanan sapagdiriwang ng Buwan ng

mga Magsasaka atMangingisda nitong buongbuwan ng Mayo.

Ang ating bansangayong Mayo 2010 aynagkaisa sa pagpapahayagng kanilang damdaminkung sino ang dapatmamuno sa ating bayan.

Sa larangan ngagrikultura at pangisdaan,ang buwan ng Mayo aymahalaga rin para sa atingmga magsasaka atmangigisda na kasamanatin sa pagkakaisa sapatuloy na pagharap sahamon dala ng pagbabagong panahon.

Ang pagtutulungan atpagkakaisa ay kailanganupang makamit angkasapatan sa pagkain, sakabila ng pananalanta ngEl Nio sa ating mgapalayan, paghahayupan atpangisdaan.

Sa kabila ngpamiminsala sa kanilangpalayan at pangisdaan dalang El Nio, ang ating mga

magsasaka at mangingisdaay nagpakatatag na harapinang hamong ito.

Kanilang ipinakita atipinadama ang tiwala saaming pamamaraan upangsila ay patuloy namagsisikap at umasa naito ay malalampasan.

Salamat sa mgateknolohiyang nakikibagaysa El Nio tulad ngpagtatanim ng mgadrought-resistant crops,cloudseeding,

pagpapagawa ng mgashallow tube wells nakanilang itinataguyod.

Sa larangan ngpangisdaan, ang 69 mari-culture parks sa atingbarangay ay makakatulongsa ating mga mangingisda.Ang bentahe ng

Buong-pusong pagbati samga mangingisda atmagsasaka nitong Buwanng mga Magsasaka atMangingisda.

Naging puno sa

pagsubok ang mganakaraang taon para sasektor ng agrikultura mula sa pandaigdigangkrisis sa pagkain noong2008, hanggang sapagbabago ng klima ngmundo na nadama natin sapaghagupit ng malalakasna bagyo noong hulingbahagi ng 2009.

Ngayong 2010, angkinakaharap naman natinay matinding tagtuyot dulotng El Nio.

Ngunit sa bawat

pagkakataon nadumarating ang pagsubok,nangingibabaw angkabutihan at biyaya ngMaykapal, at ang tunay nagaling at sipag ng atingmga magsasaka atmangingisda.

Kaya naman kami saKagawaran ng Pagsasakaay patuloy na itinaguyodang pagdiriwang na ito taun-taon upang kilalanin angkanilang mahalagangambag sa ating pakikibakasa mga hamong ito,

kasabay na rin ng atingmga pagsisikap upangmaibsan ang kahirapan atkakulangan sa pagkain.

Ito rin ang pagkakataonng pamahalaan, sampu ng

pangisdaan gamit ang mgafish cages ay kapaki-pakinabang.

Ang programang FIELDSna patuloy ang pagtulong saating mga magsasaka sapamamagitan ng anim naayudafertilizer, irrigation,infrastructure, educationand extension, loans andcredit, dryers at iba pangpost harvest facilities atmga binhiay kanilangmasasandigan upang lalong

harapin ang anumangdarating na kalagayan ngpanahon.

Ngayong 2010, sa ilalimng paksang Magsasaka atMangingisda, Sama-samang Harapin angHamon ng Climate ChangeGamit ang MakabagongTeknolohiya, atingipinagdiriwang ang buwanng Mayo bilang Buwan ngMagsasaka atMangingisda.

Ito ay pag-alaala sa ating

mga bayaning buhay, angating mga magsasaka atmangingisda, na nagsisikapupang ang bayan ay maysapat na pagkain ngayon atsa darating na henerasyon.

Mabuhay ang mgamangingisda atmagsasaka!

mga pinuno at kawani ngKagawaran ng Pagsasaka,na pagtibayin ang

paghahandog ng tulong saating mga magsasaka atmangingisda upang higit namaparami ang kanilangproduksyon at mapataasang kita.

Kabilang na rito angpagtuturo ng mgamakabagong pamamaraanat teknolohiya sa ilalim ngprogramang FIELDS ngPangulong GloriaMacapagal-Arroyo,Ginintuang Masaganang Aniat iba pang mga kaugnay naproyekto sa kanayunan ng

Kagawaran.Muli, mabunying

pagsaludo sa atingminamahal na mgamagsasaka at mangingisda.

Mabuhay kayong lahat!

GLORIA MACAPAGAL-ARROYOPangulo

Republika ng Pilipinas

Atty. Bernie G. FondevillaKalihim

Kagawaran ng Pagsasaka

Bayaning nagsisikap upang angbayan ay may sapat na pagkain

Writers:Adora D. Rodriguez, Jo Anne Grace B. Pera, Arlhene S. Carro,

Mc. Bien Saint Garcia

Contributors: DA-RFU Info Officers, Public Info Officers and Staff of DA

Bureaus, Attached Agencies & Corporations, Foreign-Assisted Projects

is published monthly by the Department of Agriculture Information

Service, Elliptical Road, Diliman, Quezon City. Tel. nos. 9288741 loc 2148,2150, 2155, 2156 or 2184; 9204080 or tel/fax 9280588. This issue is availablein PDF file. For copies, please send requests via email: [email protected].

Editor-In-Chief: Noel O. Reyes

Associate Editors: Karenina Salazar & Cheryl C. Suarez

Photograhers: Jose Lucas, Alan Jay Jacalan, Alarico Nuestro,

& Kathrino Ressurrecion

Lay-out Artists: Bethzaida Bustamante & Almie Erlano

Printing &Circulation: Teresita Abejar & PCES Staff

Tuloy ang aming tulong upang higitna lumaki ang kanilang ani at kita

Magsasaka, mangingisda:


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May 2010 3

Agriculture Secretary Bernie G. Fondevilla (middle) signs the Memo-randum of Agreement between the Philippines and Spain, wherethe latter is providing a grant worth P38.5 million to help farmers,fishers and their families in CALABARZON (Region 4-A) recoverfrom the devastation wrought by typhoons OndoyandPepenglast year. Joining him are His Excellency Luis Arias Romero (right),Spanish Ambassador to Philippines, and Mr. Kazuyuki Tsurumi,

Representative of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Orga-nization in the Philippines.

The Government of the King-dom of Spain is providing thePhilippines through the Depart-ment of Agriculture a grant worth$857,740 (roughly P39.5 million,at $1=P46), in response to theFlash Appeal organized by theUnited Nations last year to as-sist farmers, fishers and theirfamilies adversely affected bymassive floods spawned by su-per typhoons Ondoy an d

Pepeng.On behalf of President Gloria

Macapagal Arroyo and the Fili-pino people, Agriculture Secre-tary Bernie G. Fondevillathanked the Spanish Govern-ment through its Ambassador tothe Phil ippines Luis AriasRomero for their generosity anddeep concern to helping Filipinofarmer-victims, specifically in the

Spain grants P39.5 M for typhoon victimsprovinces of Cavite, Laguna,Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon,collectively known asCALABARZON or Region 4-A.

Secretary Fondevilla said theproject grant will benefit 10,406groups (6,948 vegetable farmers,1,640 rural women and theirfamilies, and 1,818 fisherfolk andtheir families).

The project, which will be ad-

ministered by the UNs Foodand Agriculture Organization(FAO), will be used to provideaffected farm families with tech-nical assistance and farm andfishery inputs such as assortedvegetable seeds and gardentools; initial stock of chicken,goats and sows; and fishinggears, fingerlings, and seaweedseedlings.

Koreans will soon enjoy RP mangoesFilipinos will soon be able to

taste Korean oranges, and Ko-reans will savor Philippine man-goes.

This will be realized within theyear, as the Philippine govern-ment through the Department ofAgriculture has allowed the im-

port of Korean oranges, accord-ing to Director Larry Lacson, ofthe DAs Bureau of Plant Indus-try (BPI).

This is part of a fruit exchangebetween the Philippines andSouth Korea, as the latter hasalso allowed the entry of Philip-pine fruits, including carabaomango.

Lacson said the DA-BPI ad-ministrative order allowing Ko-rean oranges into the countryhas already been signed.

Were pursuing bilateral ne-gotiations to finalize all the otherdetails such as the allowablevolume of import, he noted.

Philippine plant quarantine of

ficials, he added, will soon visitKoreas Jeju Island, from wherethe special orange varieties aregrown, to find out if the Koreanfruits are handled clean, andsafe from fruit pests.

Lacson said Jeju orangestaste better than other imported

oranges, even better than thesweet Chinese Ponkan.The Philippines exports ba-

nanas and tobacco to Korea. In2008, banana and tobacco ex-ports reached $153.8 million and$58.6 million, respectively.

Philippine bananas accountfor almost 100 percent of the Ko-rean import market.

Philippine tobacco likewisecorners a majority share, at76%.

On the other hand, the top ex-ports of Korea to the Philippinesare electronic integrated cir-cuits, which in 2008 totaled$1.2 billion. (Manila Standard To-day)

Taiwan now looms as the nextexport market for Philippinefresh mangoes, according toDirector Lacson.

He said the Taiwanese gov-ernment recently inquired on themeasures or treatment on howthe country controls mango

pests and diseases.Lacson said this means Tai-

wan is interested in importingfresh mangoes from the Philip-pines.

He added that the DA hasbeen asking Taiwan to allow theimport of Philippine fresh man-goes for more than five yearsnow.

We wrote them two monthsago, asking about the marketaccess of fresh mangoes to Tai-wan, Lacson said.

And for the first time in morethan five years, they replied lastMay 11, 2010, he added.

He said if the countrys mea-sures against local mango pestsand diseases are sufficient andcomply with their requirements,we will be allowed to export freshmangoes immediately.

For his part, Roberto Amores,president of Philippine MangoExporters Foundation, Inc., wel-comed the development, say-ing: We welcome every movefor quarantine protocols for Phi

lippine exports.

...and the Taiwanese, too

He said the most importantthing for fresh mango exportersright now is finding new marketsto improve our products com-petitiveness in the internationalmarket.

Amores said main overseasmarkets for Philippine freshmangoes are Japan and China,besides 50 other economies.

About 30,200 metric tons(MT) of fresh, processed anddried mangoes worth $34.6 mil-lion were exported by the coun-try in January to October lastyear, according to the DAs Bu-reau of Agricultural Statistics.

Last year, mango productiondecreased by 12.8% to 771,150MT, from 884,010 MT in 2008,due to typhoons that hit thecountry in 2008 and 2009.

The countrys major mangoregional producers are Ilocos,Central Luzon and WesternVisayas. (BusinessWorld)

Agri sector, farmers avail P131B LandBank loansThe Land Bank of the Phils.

(LBP) has lent a total of P130.9billion in the first quarter of 2010to priority sectors that includesmall farmers anf f ishers,microenterprises and SMEs,agribusiness, agri-infrastructure,livelihood, environment-relatedprojects, socialized housing,and schools and hospitals.

LBP President and CEO GildaPico said the P130.9B repre-sents two-thirds (67.5%) of thebanks total loan portfolio ofP193.9B during the first threemonths of 2010.

Of the P130.9B, P16.9B

went to small farmers and

fisherfolk, and P20.1B toagribusiness enterprises.The other loans went to: Agri-infrastructure projects of

LGUs (P27.9B); Agri-related projects of gov-

ernment-owned and controlledcorporations (P25.7B);

Microenterprises and SMEs(P19.1B)

Socialized housing,schools, and hospitals (P12.7B)

Environmental-relatedprojects (P4.4B)

Livelihood loans (P4.1B).

(LandBank News)


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Thai Ambassador Kulkumut Singahara Na Ayudhaya (2nd fromright) and National Food Authority (NFA) Administrator Jessup P.Navarro (2nd from left) sign the deed of donation for 520 metrictons or 10,400 bags of rice by the Royal Thai Government fordistribution to typhoon Ondoy victims during the ceremonialsigning and turn-over held at NFA warehouse along Visayas Av-enue in Quezon City. The rice donation was coursed to the East

Asia Emergency Rice Reserve (EAERR) through NFA. The ricewill then be turned over to the Department of Social Welfare and

Development (DSWD) for distribution to typhoon Ondoy victimsin Metro Manila and selected provinces in Central and Southern

Luzon. Witnesses are Nathpong Viriyakupt (right), Group Captain- Air and Defense Attache for the Royal Thai Government and

DSWD Asst. Secretary Ruel G. Lucentales (left) for the PhilippineGovernment. (NFA Public Affairs Department)

Thai government turns over ricedonation for RP typhoon victims

The Royal Thai Embassy andTeam Thailand turned over some520 metric tons (MT) or 10,400bags of rice to the PhilippineGovernment for distribution tothe victims of typhoon Ondoyafter the signing of the deed ofrice donation between the twocountries represented by Am-bassador Kulkumut Singhara NaAyudhaya and National FoodAuthority Administrator Jessup

PhilRice and the InternationalRice Research Institute (IRRI)developed PSB Rc82-Sub1 linesthrough marker-assisted breed-ing approach making the trans-fer of submergence-tolerantgene (sub1) significantly lesstime-consuming.

Rice breeding typically takes8 to 11 years to complete. How-ever with DNA marker-assistedbreeding, Loida M. Perez, leadauthor of the paper titled PSBRc82-Sub1: A New Submer-gence Tolerant Rice CultivarDeveloped Through Marker-Assisted Breeding, said thatDNA marker-assisted breedingis estimated to save at least 3to 6 years in the breeding pro-cess.

Perez explained that DNAmarkers are landmarks thatpoint plant breeders to a spe-cific region of interest in thechromosome, thereby lesseningthe process.

PhilRice and IRRI identifiedfour PSB Rc82-Sub1 materials.Initial morpho-agronomic traitssuch as grain quality revealedthat the improved PSB Rc82-Sub1 materials were compa-rable to the original PSB Rc82(non-sub1). All four lines hadfixed sub1 and were establishedin 2010 dry season at PhilRiceCentral Experiment Station todetermine yield and yield-relatedparameters and to produce seedfor evaluation and promotion insubmergence or flash flood-prone areas in the country.

From an Indian rice varietyFR13A, it was successfullytransferred to IR64 via marker-assisted breeding at IRRI pro-ducing IR64-Sub1, which wasrecently registered as commer-cial variety by the National SeedIndustry Council of the Philip-pines as NSIC Rc194 with a lo-cal name Submarino 1 for theflood-prone ecosystems in the

country. (DA-PhilRice)

GGPC, Poyry Inc. and DP-Cleantech jumpstart $140M biomass project

P. Navarro.The simple turnover ceremo-

nies was held last May 4, 2010in NFA warehouse, Visayas Av-enue, Quezon City .

The rice donation wascoursed under the Relief Opera-tions of the East Asia Emer-gency Rice Reserve (EAERR)through the NFA.

The rice will then be turned overto the Department of Social Wel-

fare and Development for distri-bution to the victims of typhoonOndoy in Metro Manila andselected provinces in Central andSouthern Luzon.

This donation under theASEAN framework is partiallyextended for the first time un-der the EAERR mechanism toassist the members of ASEANcountries at the time of calam-ity.

In addition to this donation,the Thai Government providedthe bilateral contribution of

100,000 kilograms of Thai riceand 50,000 sets of medical kitsdonated by the Royal Thai Gov-ernment to the Philippines onNovember 13, 2009.

The Royal Thai Governmentexpressed its support to Philip-pine Government in its continu-ing rehabilitation efforts, as wellas in its preparation and readi-ness in times of national disas-ter.

The EAERR is a regional co-operation scheme amongASEAN countries, China , Ja-pan and the Republic of Korea

(ASEAN+3 countries) aimed atstrengthening food security andreducing poverty in East Asia .

Each member countrypledges a certain volume of ricestocks for the EAERR whichcan be released to meet emer-gency rice requirements amongthe member countries.

The rice donation was pledgedby Thailands Prime MinisterAbhisit Vijajiva to PresidentGloria Macapagal-Arroyo duringthe ASEAN+3 Summit held inThailand last October 24, 2009.

(NFA Public Affairs Department)

New sub1 rice linesNew sub1 rice linesNew sub1 rice linesNew sub1 rice linesNew sub1 rice linesdeveloped in less timedeveloped in less timedeveloped in less timedeveloped in less timedeveloped in less time

The contract signing betweenGlobal Green Power PLC Cor-poration (GGPC), Poyry EnergyInc., and DP-Cleantech lastMarch 24, 2010 signifies a bigleap in the biomass energy sec-tor in the Philippines. GGPCaims to develop renewable en-

ergy in the Philippines by maxi-mizing the economic potentialof our countrys agriculturalwastes. These agriculturalwastes shall be used for powergeneration that will provide eco-nomic and social impact tonearby communities, particu-larly to the farmer beneficiaries.

Philippine Agricultural Devel-opment and Commercial Corpo-

ration (PADCC), the agencytasked to oversee the implemen-tation of the Department ofAgricultures (DA) Biofuels Feed-stock Program, is assistingGGPC to push the project moveforward. PADCC is also workingwith Department of Environment

and Natural Resources (DENR)and Department of Agrarian Re-form (DAR) in identifying andconsolidating marginal and un-productive lands suitable forgrowing biomass energy crops.This is to ensure GGPC that thesource of raw materials for theirbiomass power plant will notcompete with potential and ex-isting food production area.

Mr. Marriz B. Agbon, Presi-dent of PADCC, recalled duringhis speech the cooperationagreement inked in October2008 between GGPC andPADCC. The agreement coversthe consolidation of biomassresidues and idle lands for the

establishment of sustainable bio-mass energy plantation inPanay Island, Pangasinan, andNueva Ecija.

To date, we have identifiedand validated about 6,000 hec-tares of land in Iloilo province forthe Global Power Panay Bio-mass Power Plant and about10,000 hectares in NuevaEcija., Mr. Agbon reported. Heaffirmed that this initiative hasthe potential to create about16,000 jobs that will be directly

involved in the plantation devel-opment only. This number of

jobs excludes direct and indirectjobs that can be created in thepower production side.

Mr. Agbon expressed thestrong support of DA andPADCC to the biomass projects

of GGPC. Through the collabo-rative efforts of the private, gov-ernment and energy sector,problems on agricultural wastesdisposal, climate change, andenergy supply can be properlyaddressed.


5/12

May 2010 5

Former Agriculture SecretaryArthur C. Yap and SorsogonBishop Arturo M. Bastes ledother government and non-gov-ernment organization officialsin the Blessing and Turn-overCeremonies of the P10-millionGreenhouse Vegetable Gar-dening Project within theHouse of Clergy compound inthe Diocese of Sorsogon, inBibincahan, Sorsogon City.

The 17 sets of greenhousesproject, envisioned to help aug-ment income potential of farm-ers, employ greenhouse and

WB expresses satisfaction withMindanao anti-poverty program

One of the greenhouse projects constructed in 10 dioceses in thecountry was inaugurated and turned-over by the DA to the Dioceseof Sorsogon. The project with funding support from the NABCORwill benefit landless farmers. Photo shows Sorsogon Bishop Arturo

M. Bastes officiating the blessing. (Inset) Bishop Bastes welcomingSec. Yap while DA Bicol Regl Executive Director Marilyn V. StaCatalina and RTD for Research Edgar Madrid look on.(jennisnidea/raymond adversario jr)

Davao City - The WorldBank (WB) has rated the anti-poverty program in Mindanaosatisfactory.

This came after the WB teamreported recently here the result

of its month-long assessment ofthe Department of AgriculturesMindanao Rural DevelopmentProgram (DA-MRDP).

DA-MRDP is long term pov-erty alleviation program forMindanao jointly funded by theWorld Bank, the national andlocal governments, and theproject proponents. It covers225 of the 420 towns acrossMindanao .

WB said the program has per-formed well both in terms ofachieving its development objec-tives and its implementation

progress.The evaluation was based on

two development objectives: theincrease of incomes of the be-nefited communities and the in-stitutionalization of a decentra-lized agriculture and fisheriesservices delivery mechanism.

WB lead rural developmentspecialist Carolina F. Geron saidalthough the loan disbursementwas slow, significant improve-ments have been achieved.

The trajectory of loan dis-bursement targets is not yet inthe path of the catch-up targetsthey (program management) setearlier but they have imple-mented various projects that leadto meet the programs objec-tives, Geron said.

The program has also re-ported considerable improve-ments in the physical and finan-cial performance of the projectcompared to the previous as-sessment in August 2009, sheadded.

Program director Lealyn A.Ramos said the good perfor-mance of the program can be

alluded to the active participa-tion and involvement of the localgovernment units (LGUs).

To date, 164 towns hasavailed of and benefited from theinfrastructure, livelihoods andenvironment projects of the pro-gram.

Now on its third year of imple-mentation, MRDP has accom-plished over P131 million worthof agricultural infrastructure ofwhich close to 66 kilometers offarm-to-market roads have beenestablished, 39 linear meters ofbridge and four units of potable

DA turns over P10M-greenhouseveggie proj to the Diocese of Sorsogon

water systems erected servingover a thousand households.

With the counterpart of bene-ficiaries, about P87.01M-worthof various agri-based livelihoodswere created benefiting mostly

women and Indigenous Peoplesand P42M had been invested forenvironmental conservation andprotection.

For rural infrastructure (RI),Northern Mindanao (region 10)leads the implementation whichhas completed projects amount-ing to P53.15M, on-going sub-projects P58.28M. Caraga re-gion (region 13) placed secondhaving implemented a total ofP31.08M-worth of projects. Fol-lowed by regions 12, 11, 9 andARMM, respectively.

RI implements projects such

as farm to market roads, irriga-tion systems, single lanebridges, and postharvest facili-ties.

For the Community Fund forAgricultural Development(CFAD), the livelihood compo-nent, ARMM leads in the imple-mentation which utilized 92% ofits released funds to date, fol-lowed by regions 13 and 10 bothdisbursed 75% of its releasedfunds. Region 12 comes infourth and regions 11 and 9 wereranked fifth and sixth respec-tively.

CFAD employs communitydriven development approachwhere the peoples organizationthemselves identify and imple-ment their project with the helpof the LGUs.(Sherwin B.Manual)

organic farming technologies,is a partnership of the Depart-ment of Agriculture through itsHigh Value Commercial Crops(DA-HVCC) Program and theNational AgriBusiness Corpo-rat ion (NABCOR) andDioceses social apostolatearm, the Sorsogon Social Ac-

tion Foundation, Inc. (SSAFI).The project, approved duringthe term of Secretary Yap, di-rects SSAFI to oversee themanagement of the 17 green-houses installed at the site.

According to Bishop Bastesthe production and income fromthe project shall be shared withthe selected 20 landlessfarmer-beneficiaries.

This project is a manifesta-tion of an effective partnershipand cooperation between thestate and the church, Bastes

pointed out.On his part, Yap, said that

during his term in the DA hehas approved at least ten (10)similar projects in 10 diocesesin the entire country.

Through this project, land-less farmer-beneficiaries willbe trained with appropriateproduction management prac-tices, integrated pest manage-ment, effective use of micro-organisms, vermiculture andgreenhouse maintenance, headded.(RFU 5)

As part of its goal in helpingfarmers achieve sustainableagriculture, the Department ofAgriculture-Regional Field Unit10 (DA-RFU 10) in coordina-tion with local governments,

has developed the Small FarmReservoir (SFR) project thatwill help farmers become goodproducers of commercial lygrown vegetables l ike egg-plants, str ing beans, okra,pechay and bi t ter gourd(ampalaya), which are all con-sidered High Value Commer-cial Crops (HVCC).

The SFR project is fundedunder the GinintuangMasaganang Ani-HVCC Pro-gram with P146,000 allocatedto finance 23 sites where thesmall reservoirs will be estab-lished.

Small farm dams eyed in MindanaoIn choosing the sites for the

SFRs, the recipients are firstendorsed by the local govern-ments concerned and pre-qualified and validated by theDA-RFU 10.

SFR is an earth dam struc-ture that will be used to trap,harvest and store rainfall andwater runoff.

This technology allows thestoring of rainfall and runoffduring the wet season that canbe used during the dryseasons planting.

During times of heavy rain-fall the SFR also aids in soiland water conservation. It alsoreduces the velocity of thewater flow from higher areaswhich in turn minimizes erosionand nutrient losses from thesoil.


6/12

6

BFAR names new fisherfolk directorThe Bureau of Fisheries and

Aquatic Resources, an agencyunder the Department of Agricul-ture paid tribute to the countrysfishermen by designatingRonald Pagcalinawan, afisherfolk leader from MindoroOccidental, as the national

Fisherfolk Director along with 16others as Regional Fisherfolk Di-rectors of BFAR for the wholemonth of May.

Pagcalinawan was officiallysworn in as the 6th Nationalfisherfolk director by AgricultureSecretary Bernie G. Fondevilladuring the opening of the Farm-ers and Fisherfolks Month atthe DA in Quezon City.

Fondevilla said that despitethe harsh difficulties broughtabout by the impact of climatechange to our farmers and fish-ermen, they continue to work

hard to provide the food for thepopulation.

Kaya naman kami saKagawaran ng Pagsasaka aypatuloy na it inaguyod angpagdiriwang na ito taun-taonupang kilalanin ang kanilangmahalagang ambag sa ating

pakikibaka sa mga hamong ito,kasabay na rin ng ating mgapagsisikap maibsan angkahirapan at kakulangan sapagkain, Fondevilla said.

BFAR national directorMalcolm I. Sarmiento, Jr. saidthat the Mangingisdang Direktorprogram, now on its sixth (6th)year of implementation, aims toprovide the fisherfolk leaders aglimpse of the governmentsregular operations by tradingplaces with the regular directors.

The undertaking is one of thekey programs initiated by former

Agriculture Secretary Arthur C.Yap in empowering thefisherfolk, the guidelines ofwhich are spelled out in DA Spe-cial Order No. 88 s. 2005 andBFAR FOO No. 80 s. 2005.

Sarmiento said that under theprogram, the fisherfolk directorswill perform all the routinaryfunctions of the regular direc-tors, except those involving fi-

nancial and policy-related mat-ters, while the latter also under-takes immersion in the coastalcommunities.

This way, both parties willhave a better understanding ofeach others posit ions andhopefully promote closer col-laboration and stronger ties be-tween the government and itsstakeholders, Sarmientoadded.

An active FARMC leaderbased in Region 4B,Pagcalinawan has been a Re-gional Fisherfolk Director in

BFAR Region 4B in 2008. ThisMay, he will sit as the BFARnational fisherfolk director toadminister the functions of 16other BFAR regional officesheaded by the following regionalfisherfolk directors: AbsolonBuenafe, Jr., Cordillera Admin-istrative Region; Gavina P.Tumbaga, Region 1; Sixto N.Trinidad, Region 2; Romeo M.

Sunga, Region 3; Sonny S. SanJose, Region 4A; Antonio F.dela Torre, Region 4B; RomenB. Diones, Region 5; Hernani T.Tingson, Region 6; Wilfredo M.Reyes, Sr., Region 7; BeverlitoG. Montalban, Region 8; Anto-nio M. Duran, Region 9;Fernando S. Ocaba, Region 10;Camilo H. de los Trayco, Region11; Brahim M. Kunsa, Region12; Leonilo G. Vaz, Caraga Re-gion; and Abdul Rahman T.Barazan, Autonomous Region ofMuslim Mindanao.


7/12

May 2010 7

Agricultural inquiries through textinggaining popularity among farmers

PHILRICE, Nueva EcijaAgricultural inquiries throughtext messages are nowgaining popularity amongfarmers, helping them copewith the latest farm technolo-

gies that lead to increasedcrop yields.

According to a study, theFarmers Text Center (FTC)based at the Philippine RiceResearch Institute (PhilRice)shows that it has enhancedthe delivery of agriculturalinformation to farmers andextension workers.

Stoix Nebin Pascua, leadauthor of the paper entitled,Enhancing KnowledgeNetworking through Short

Messaging Service: TheFarmers Text Center Experi-ence of the Open Academy forPhilippine Agriculture(Opapa), said the resultsshow the importance of short-

messaging service (SMS) inthe delivery of agricultureinformation.

Pascua said the increasingtrend in SMS received yearlyimplies the great potential of

wireless technology in enhanc-ing knowledge exchangebetween and among the

experts, extension workers,farmers and other stakehold-ers despite physical distance.

Using their own or borrowedcellular phones, farmers andextension workers just text

their queries or requests forinformation on rice productionproblem to the PhilRices

Farmers Text Center at 0920-911-1398 at P1 per text onlyfor all networks, Pascua said.

From only 2,879 SMSreceived in 2006, text queries

jumped to 13,267 in 2007while an 86.37-percentincrease was marked for 2007,and 2008. In 2008 and 2009,

SMS totaled 24,727 and31,738, respectively.

From 11 text messagesduring its launch in August2004, FTC now receives anaverage of about 3,000messages a month this year.

For four years since 2006,varieties and seeds rankedfirst as the most-asked topic,

followed by integrated pestand nutrient management.

The study also revealed thatfarmers text the FTC morefrequently than the extensionworkers from 2006 to 2008.

Farmers said they use SMSbecause it is cheap, easy touse and mobile.

Results also showed thatThank you and congratula-tory messages received fromthe texters were importantfeedbacks in determiningwhether FTC satisfies andresponds to the needs of theclients.

The paper, adjudged as bestpaper during the 23rd National

Rice Research and Develop-

ment Conference and 40thScientific Conference and

Anniversary of the Crop

Science Society of the

Philippines, was co-authored

with Ronan Zagado, Olive

Rose Asis, Oliver Domingo,

and Jennylene Maloles.

Zagado, former program

director of Opapa, said

inadequate access to new

rice-production technologies is

a major constraint to in-

creased rice productivity.

The delivery of agriculturalinformation is difficult and

trying as the Philippine

agricultural extension system

is fragmented and dispersed

owing to the Devolution of

Powers Act, not to mention

the archipelagic geography of

the country, Zagado said.

He added that the county is

also limited with the number of

agricultural extension work-

ersonly about 25,000

nationwidewho need to

reach out to the countrys over2.5 million farmers.

Gloria Diata, from OrientalMindoro, said she is gratefulfor the technological tips sentby the FTC and hopes that theproject will continue to reachand help more farmers.

Sanny Huelva of Masbate

was able to increase his farm

yield through the said project

and said, Thank you forsending technology updates, Ihad a good harvest.

FTC is one of the projectcomponents of Opapa, acoalition of various governmentagencies that aims to exploreICT applications in Philippineagriculture with PhilRice asthe lead agency.

Operating from 8 a.m. to 5p.m., Mondays to Fridays,FTC aims to answer queries offarmers and other clients onrice and rice-based farmproductions, send technologyupdates to farmers and otherclients, and link farmers and

7. By entering the competition,the participants declare thatthe logo submitted is theiroriginal work, have not beensubmitted to any other compe-tition, and does not infringe onany third partys existingcopyrights. All entries auto-matically become the property

of PhilRice.8. PhilRice will have exclusiverights to the winning logodesign, publish it on itswebsites, and in other mediaand corporate materials suchas letterheads and envelopes.PhilRice reserves the right tofurther refine or make improve-ments and alterations on thefinal artwork of the winningentry.9. The winner will be an-nounced at the PhilRicewebsite www.philrice.gov.phand will be notified throughemail and phone call.10. Contest schedules are asfollows: a. Deadline of Sub-mission of Entries Septem-ber 30, 2010. Entries sentbeyond this date will no longerbe considered. b. Announce-ment of the winning entry October 15, 2010 c. Unveilingof the new logo November 5,201011. The decision of the judgesis final, executory, and non-appealable. Judging will bebased on the following criteria:a. Creativity-30%

b. Originality-20%c. Relevance to the strategicplan-50%12. The winner gets a certifi-cate, cash prize of P50,000.00,one sack of graded MestizoRice, and an all-expense paidtrip to the PhilRice CentralExperiment Station in NuevaEcija for the awarding cer-emony on November 5, 2010.

For more information, [email protected] ortext 0908-895-7796.

clients to markets through textmessaging.

To receive free rice techno-tips, register to the FarmersText Center by typing REG(space) name, age, address,occupation and send to 0920-9111398.

To send your message, justtype your question and send itto the same number. MMS orphotos and videos can also besent through 0939-5099698 ore-mail [email protected] .

PhilRice is turning 25 thisyear, and wed like you tocelebrate with us.

Join PhilRices logo makingcontest, and win P 50,000, onesack of premium Mestizo riceand an all-expense paid trip tothe PhilRice Central Experi-ment Station!Send your

entries by September 30,2010.

Mechanics:

1. The contest is open to allFilipinos nationwide.2. The Contest forms part ofthe celebration of PhilRices25th Anniversary on November5, 2010.3. The design of the logoshould be in accordance withPhilRices Corporate StrategicPlan with the following keygoals: Attained and sustainedrice self-sufficiency; Reducedincidence of poverty & malnutri-tion; Achieved competitivenessin agricultural S&T. It should beable to communicate aprogressive, empowered, andsustainable rice industry.4. Entries should be emailedto [email protected] the subject PhilRice logocontest. Participants shouldwrite their complete name,address, contact details andexplanation of their work in thebody of their email.

5. Participants can send asmany entries as they like.6. Only digital entries areaccepted. The raw file of theartwork should be drawn/illustrated in A4 size preferablyin Corel Draw or AdobeIllustrator. Submit the file in thefollowing formats: 1) Flat jpegformat, minimum 300 pixels 2)Original raw file. Filename isyour name and artwork title.Example: jillcruz_logo.jpeg,

jillcruz_logo.cdr

Win P50K, design new PhilRice logo


8/12

8

Blue crab, scientifically knownas Portunus pelagicus oralimasag in local dialect is amajor seafood among Filipinos.It is deliciously served in vari-ous dishes from ordinary dinersto the finest restaurants hereand abroad.

Given the demand for it, it isconsidered a potential money-earning industry for the fisher-ies sector and an importantsource of income for the mar-ginal fisherfolk.

Blue crabs are abundant in

Pampanga, Bulacan, andBataan in Luzon. In fact, someareas in Bataan greatly dependon blue crab as source of liveli-hood like Brgy. Sibacan inBalanga wherein 40 percent ofthe population relies on catch-ing blue crab to sustain theirdaily needs.

However, due to lack of infor-mation and appropriate tech-nologies in catching blue crab,fisherfolk in the area remain im-poverished and are left behindin terms of appropriate methodsof fishing.

BFAR to build P25M feed mill in Tacloban; mariculture zones expected to benefitThe government will spend

P25 million to build a feed millto boost production in maricul-ture zones in Eastern Visayas.

The facility, which will be thefirst in the region, will rise withinthe regional complex of the Bu-reau of Fisheries and Aquatic

Resources (BFAR) in BarangayDiit, Tacloban City, said BFARRegional Director Juan D.Albaladejo.

We will employ a new feedproduction technology comingfrom Denmark, he said. Con-struction of the facility will startearly next year.

Mr. Albaladejo said the facil-ity will meet the growing demandfor aqua feeds in existing mari-culture zones. The feed mill willhave the capacity to producethree metric tons of feeds everyhour.

There are nearly 6,000 hec-tares of mariculture parks withabout 500 fish cages worth overP200 million in the region. Themariculture zones are located inCalbayog City in Basey and Sta.Rita both in Samar; TaclobanCity, Ormoc City, Babatngonand Merida in Leyte; Biliran and

BPI to extend P18M financial aidto small farmers

Naval in Biliran; San Jose andLaoang in Northern Samar;Liloan in Southern Leyte andQuinapondan in Eastern Samar.

Operators are having a prob-lem with buying feeds becausetheres no local producer.Theres an added transport

cost, Mr. Albaladejo said.Excess fish catch in the re-

gion that are spoiled may beused as raw materials for thefeed mill. Because of lack ofstorage and cooling facilities inNorthern Samar, some of the fishcatch has been wasted. Thoseare good raw materials for thefeed mill, Mr. Albaladejo toldBusinessWorld.

Root crops can also be asource of raw materials. A labo-ratory was recently establishedto process crops into powder foraqua feed processing.

For cassava alone, about 80%of cassava production in thecountry is used by feed millersas ingredients for animals andaqua feeds.

One of the highlights of theproject is the use of containersfor easy transferring for futureexpansion and changes, Mr.

The Bureau of Plant Indus-try (BPI) and the Kapisananng Magsasaka, Mangingisdaat Manggagawa ng Pilipinas,(KaMMMPi), a farmers orga-nization, recently forged anagreement which aims to helpincrease the productivity oftheir identified farmer-benefi-ciaries.

The agreement mandatesthe BPI to extend financialassistance to small farmersfor them to operate their own

seed bank that will supplycertified seeds of rice to otherfarmers via equal exchangeor barter basis or direct sales.

The seedbank will also pro-vide farmers easy access tohigh quality seeds.

In a report to AgricultureSecretary Bernie G.Fondevilla, BPI Director LarryR. Lacson said that the part-nership is geared towardspromoting the livelihood andwelfare of small farmers, par-ticularly in the rainfed areas,

Albaladejo said.The regions BFAR office has

been promoting mariculturezones since 2003.

The mariculture areas are de-signed to produce fishesthrough sea cage culture suchas bangus, siganid, grouper, red

snapper, seaweed farming,aquasilviculture, mussel culture,oyster culture, sea-ranching of

lobsters and sea horses in coralreefs and sea grass areas. Each

mariculture zone or park is a con-

tiguous area measuring from

100 hectares to 400 hectares or

more encompassing the coastal

waters of several barangays. It

is run by groups chaired by lo-

cal government units in partner-

ship with BFAR.(BusinessWorld)

whose only source of incomeis from palay planting and farmlabor.

According to Lacson, thiswill improve genetic materialsand increase crop yields by atleast 20 percent.

The project, which will beinitially implemented in Region1, has a total cost of Php18million and will run for twoyears. BPI targets to procurea total of 3,600 bags of highquality seeds to be distributed

by KaMMMPi to their identi-fied farmerbeneficiaries.The project will enable at

least 75 percent of farmers inIlocos Sur who are ordinaryseed users to use certifiedseeds.

BPI will conduct a series oflectures and workshops to en-hance the technical capabil-ity of seed growers in theadoption of technological ad-vancements in certified seedsproduction. (DA-BPI Planning)

Marginal fisherfolk in Bataan find hope

in CPAR blue crab

Recognizing the potentials ofblue crab for major fishery pro-duction, the Bureau of Agricul-tural Research (BAR), in col-laboration with the Bureau ofFisheries and Aquatic Re-sources (BFAR) in Region 3 andthe local government unit ofBataan, embarked on a projectthat would help marginalizedblue crab catchers increase theirincome through environment-friendly fishing techniques.

The project titled, Commu-nity-based Participatory Action

Research (CPAR) in Blue CrabFishing Using Gillnets for theMarginal Fisherfolk of Bataanis headed by Lilian C. Garcia,manager of the Regional Fish-eries Research and Develop-ment Center (RFRDC) in Region3.

According to Garcia, there aretwo ways of catching blue crab.Fisherfolk in Balanga, Bataanuse bare hands to manuallycatch blue crab during low tide,this method is locally known aspangangapa. Another method

(Pls turn to p9)

Photo courtesy of DA-BAR


9/12

9May 2010

Department of Agriculture (DA) Undersecretary for Policy, Plan-ning, Research, and Regulation Segfredo Serrano awards to Cli-mate Change Commissioner Naderev Sao a token of appreciation

for his lecture entitledPlanting the Seeds of Change: The Philip-pines and the Climate Change Challenge held on May 26, 2010 at

the DA Central Office in Diliman, Quezon City . The lecture-forum,which aims to equip the DA employees with the right informationon climate change and how to mitigate its impact, is under the five-

year Umbrella Capacity Development Program for DA executivesand professional staff implemented by the Southeast Asian RegionalCenter for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA)in cooperation with the Ateneo School of Government (AsoG), theUniversity of Asia and the Pacific School of Management (UA&PSMN), and the UPecon Foundation.

Marginal fisherfolk ... (from p8)

is through the use of gillnets orpanyo.

By using bare hands or

pangangapa, fisherfolk catch 2-3 kgs in a day while usinggillnets allows them to catch 6-8 kgs a day. The project there-fore, recommends the use ofgillnets to increase the monthlyvolume of catch of the marginalfisherfolk.

Meanwhile, Gladys Resubaland Gaudelia Calinao, expertsfrom the Office of the ProvincialAgriculturist (OPA) of Bataanand the Office of City Agricul-turist (OCA) in Balanga havebeen working with the project toprovide technical assistance tofisherfolk-cooperators. They im-part with them appropriate fish-ing technology using gillnets.

Although the project wasimplemented only in November2009, Garcia proudly said that,some positive changes in thelives of the fisher-cooperatorshave already been evident. First,the daily catch increased from2-3 kgs to 6-8 kgs a day. Sec-ond, the project has led to thestrengthening of the fisherfolkassociation Samahan ng mgaMaliliit na Mangingisda ni Apo

There is a steady improve-ment in the social and economicstatus among Filipino rice farm-ers and their household for thelast decade, according to astudy conducted by theSocioEconomic Division (SED)

of PhilRice.The study Changing image ofthe Filipino rice farmer, led byDivina Gracia Vergara, focusedon trends transpiring in rice-based farm households and ricelands, and among farmer opera-tors in 33 provinces for the lastten years.

This intensive study capturesthe farmers image from 1996 to2007, she said.

The study shows that the rice-based farm household incomeis increasing as gross house-hold income raised from

P68,974.85 in 1996-1997 toP127,799.95 in 2006-2007. Thefinding is also consistent withthe result showing that almost60 percent of the households areabove poverty level(57 percent)in the 2006-2007.

Furthermore, the share ofnon-farming activit ies as asource of income had steadilybeen increasing as the studyfound that rice and rice-basedfarmers are now engaged inother businesses such as rub-ber production, wood craft, weld-

ing, and work overseas.This finding implies an impor-tant question. The question inthe long run will be about thepresence of household mem-bers who are willing to pursuerice farming in the future or de-pendence of rice farm house-holds on hired labor for the man-agement of their farms, Vergarasaid.

Aside from the improvinghousehold and increasing in-come, Vergara also learned thatthe number of farmers owningrice land had been increasing by10 percent for the last 10 years.

Moreover, there is also an in-crease in farmers yields regard-less of season from 3.30 t/ha to3.72 t/ha during the wet seasonand 3.37 t/ha to 3.94 t/ha dur-ing the dry season.

Across the three surveyrounds, most villages are lo-cated in irrigated areas and re-sults show that irrigation is ex-panding from 60 to 66 percent.

Current trend revealed by thestudy also suggests that highlyeducated persons are venturing

Study shows Filipino farmers socio-econstatus is improving

into rice farming although themajority is modestly educatedor with elementary educationonly. There is a 2 percent in-crease in the number of farmerswith at least college educationventuring into rice farming.

In terms of organizing farmers,however, results show that morethan 50 percent of the respon-dents are not affiliated with riceor rice-based organizations.Most of them have not also un-dergone training since 2004.

Noting that half of the farmer-respondents have been farmingfor 20 years, Vergara also saidthat farmers households arebenefiting from the technologiesand services that are being pro-vided by the government.

Despite the interventions,however, average yields gained

during dry and wet seasons arestill below the experimental andon-farm trial yields, which is 7to 9 t/ha.

Gaining insight from thestudy, Vergara and her co-au-thors recommended that train-ing should be sustained to con-tinuously update farmers know-ledge.

She also stressed the needof the government to encouragefarmers to form or join organi-zations as through organization,farmers can pool resources and

have easier access to govern-ment incentives.She also suggested the ex-

pansion of irrigation areas asthis creates more favorable en-vironment for rice farming in par-ticular and agriculture in ge-neral.

To attract more people to beinvolved in rice production,Vergara proposed that technolo-gies lessening the drudgery ofrice farming should continuallybe developed.

It is important that the go-vernment continue to monitor therice-based farm household todetermine or approximate theimpact of their interventions.This will also give them enoughknowledge on the direction ofthe policies that they would toimprove the countryside,Vergara concluded.

DA-PhilRice is a government-owned and controlled corpora-tion that aims at developinghigh-yielding and cost-reducingtechnologies so farmers can pro-duce enough rice for all Filipi-nos. (DA-PhilRice)

San Rafael. Third, the cam-paign against illegal fishing is in-tensified through the ProyektoNatin, Bantay Natin Program,a parallel program from the lo-

cal government unit where mem-bers of the fisherfolk associa-tion become devoted stewardsfor the protection and conserva-tion of the marine resources ofthe community.

Another highlight of theproject is that, the relationshipsamong fisherfolk have strength-ened through the buddy-buddysystem, an approach wherefisherfolk fish with a chosenbuddy and share gasoline or anyagreed expenses incurred dur-ing the fishing activity.

On the other hand, theSamahan ng mga Maliliit naMangingisda ni Apo San Rafaelis also a big help to its mem-bers by providing financial as-sistance or loans through thefunds generated from their dailycontributions.

According to Benjie Manuel,president of the association,they started with 20 membersonly but it dramatically in-creased when other fisherfolk inthe community learned aboutthe good things that have hap-pened to the project.(DA-BAR)


10/12

Ac o m -

p o u n dderived frombroccoli couldhelp prevent

or treat breast cancer by target-ing cancer stem cells the

small number of cells that fuel atumors growth according toa new study from researchersat the University of MichiganComprehensive Cancer Center.

The study testedsulforaphane, a component ofbroccoli and broccoli sprouts, inboth mice and cell cultures.

Researchers foundsulforaphane targeted and killedthe cancer stem cells and pre-vented new tumors from grow-ing.

Sulforaphane has been stu-

died previously for its effects oncancer, but study only showsits benefit is in inhibiting thebreast cancer stem cells.

This new insight suggests thepotential of sulforaphane or broc-coli extract to prevent or treatcancer by targeting the criticalcancer stem cells.

Current chemotherapies donot work against cancer stemcells, which is why cancer re-curs and spreads.

Researchers believe thateliminating the cancer stemcells is key to controlling can-

10

Climate and agricultural re-searchers, policy makers, do-nors, and development agen-cies, both governmental andnon-governmental, from all overthe world have met in Nairobi fora one-day conference, BuildingFood Security in the Face of Cli-mate Change.

The conference was an impor-tant part of a big internationalMega Programme on ClimateChange, Agriculture and FoodSecurity (CCAFS).

The programmes secretariatis based at LIFE- Faculty of LifeSciences at University ofCopenhagen.

Climate change represents animmediate and unprecedentedthreat to the food security of

hundreds of millions of people

INDIA - India, the worldsbiggest consumer of sugar, isplanning to increase ethanolproduction to protect millsfrom fall ing prices of thesweetener as the country ex-

pects a bumper crop nextyear, the Minister of Agricul-ture, Consumer Affairs, Foodand Public Distribution SharadPawar said.

Instead of producing otherproducts, the industry shouldmake more of ethanol, MrPawar said in an interview. Ifthey produce more ethanoland get a good price, farmerswill also get a good price fortheir sugarcane.

The government in 2007made the sale of ethanol-blended petrol compulsory tohelp sugar mills cope with aslump in prices of the sweet-ener caused by a record har-vest. Higher sales of the fuelnext year may help makersof the sweetener supplementtheir earnings.

A panel of ministers lastmonth asked refiners to buyethanol from sugar mills at Rs27 a litre for six months com-pared with Rs 21.5 earlier. Theprice will need approval of thecabinet.

The government has pro-vided loans of Rs 300 crore tosugar mills in the past three

years to build additional an-nual ethanol production ca-pacity of 365 million litres,according to the agricultureministry.

The current capacity in thecountry is about 1.8 billionlitres. (the bioenergy site)

Climate experts aim to build food securityin the face of climate change

who depend on small-scale ag-riculture and natural resourcemanagement for their liveli-hoods.

At the same time, agricultureand forestry also contributes toclimate change, by intensifyinggreenhouse gas emissions andaltering the land surface.

To facilitate new research onthe interactions between climatechange, agriculture, natural re-source management and foodsecurity, the Consultative Groupon International Agricultural Re-search (CGIAR) and the EarthSystem Science Partnership(ESSP) have initiated a MegaProgramme on Climate Change,Agriculture and Food Security(CCAFS). CCAFS will create

unique possibil it ies in the

search for solutions to climatechange and food security prob-lems.

Climate Change Agricultureand Food Security (CCAFS) is

a large-scale ten-year researchinitiative which, from its start in2010, will seek solutions to howto adapt the worlds agriculturalareas to a different climate withnew conditions for productionand agriculture and help reduceagricultures emission of green-house gases.

The Secretariat for CCAFS isplaced at LIFE Faculty of LifeSciences at University ofCopenhagen. CCAFS will pri-marily focus on three regions:South Asia, West Africa and

East Africa. (science daily)

Govt to raise ethanol

output to help mills

Broccoli component limits breast cancerstem cells, study finds

cer.In the current study, research-

ers took mice with breast can-cer and injected varying concen-trations of sulforaphane from thebroccoli extract.

Researchers then used sev-eral established methods to as-sess the number of cancer stem

cells in the tumors.These measures showed a

marked decrease in the cancerstem cell population after treat-ment with sulforaphane, withlittle effect on the normal cells.

Further, cancer cells frommice treated with sulforaphane

were unable to generate new tu-mors.

The researchers then testedsulforaphane on human breastcancer cell cultures in the lab,finding similar decreases in thecancer stem cells.

This research suggests a po-tential new treatment that could

be combined with other com-pounds to target breast cancerstem cells.

Developing treatments that ef-fectively target the cancer stemcell population is essential forimproving outcomes. (sciencedaily)

The traditional practice of fin-ishing cattle on corn may notbe the only way to achieve high

marbling, a desirable character-istic of quality beef.

Researchers at the Universityof Illinois have discovered thathigh-quality beef and big per-head profits can be achieved bystarting early-weaned cattle oncorn and finishing them on a diethigh in co-products.

For the study, heifers from theDixon Springs Agricultural Cen-ter were weaned at an averageage of 77 days and fed a high-corn ration for the next 146 daysto initiate marbling. Then the

cattle were divided into four

High-quality beef: Start cattle on corn,finish on co-products, researchers find

groups: pasture-fed; high starch;intermediate starch; and lowstarch. The cattle remained on

these treatments for 73 days.Then, all cattle were fed the in-termediate-starch diet for the re-mainder of the finishing period.

Before being divided into thefour treatment groups, thecalves were ultrasounded to de-termine marbling.

The ultrasounds revealed thatmarbling was initiated with theearly corn diet. The cattle wereultrasounded again at thecompletion of the 73-day treat-ment period.

The cattle on pasture had sig-

nificantly lower marbling. But

there were no differences in thecattle fed varying levels of starch.

These results remained con-stant through harvest with pas-ture-fed cattle receiving lowermarbling scores and fewer cattle

grading low-choice. The cattlefed varying levels of starch hadno difference in marbling scores.However, there were differencesin profit per head.

At the overall profitability,there was a little money lost onthe high-starch group, the pas-tured cattle barely made anymoney, but the intermediate-and the low-starch groupsshowed a big swing. Theresabout a $45 difference betweenthe high-starch and intermedi-ate-starch treatment groups,and low starch was comparable

to intermediate.(science daily)


11/12

May 2010 11

Livestock and poultry ... (from p1)gation systems that will serveas alternative water sourceswhen major irrigation dams dryup during El Nio episodes.

The DA will likewise stock upon drought-resistant seeds andwill spearhead initiatives to pro-tect watersheds or reforest de-nuded ones, in coordination with

other concerned agencies.We need to look at our wa-

tersheds to make sure that theyare protected, and those alreadydenuded we could embark withother government agencies to re-forest them, Fondevilla said.

Palay, Corn PerformanceThe dry spell caused by El

Nio pulled down the total areaharvested and yield in major riceproducing regions of CagayanValley, Western Visayas, North-ern Mindanao andSOCCSKSARGEN, the BASsaid.

Meanwhile, yellow corn pro-duction was also adversely af-fected, as total area harvestedcontracted in Cagayan Valley,SOCCSKSARGEN, WesternVisayas, Northern Mindanaoand Cordillera AdministrativeRegion, BAS added.

Sugarcane production alsodipped by 10.9%, to about 10million MT, during the first quar-ter.

Commercial and municipalfisheries posted production de-

clines of 3.5% and 0.15%, re-spectively, but aquaculture ma-

hectarage has contributed760,000 MT of palay to totalnational production

For the forthcoming 2010 wetcropping season, the DA intendsto plant a total of 96,888 hect-ares to hybrid rice, Malabanansaid.

However, as a recovery planto offset production lossesbrought about by El Nio, anadditional 64,170 hectares willbe planted to hybrid rice in Cen-tral Luzon, Western Visayas,

the Cordillera Administrative Re-gion (CAR) and in Mindanao.

Hence, this brings the totalarea planted to hybrid rice toabout 161,000 hectares, for thismain cropping season.

With more hybrid rice areasand greater cooperation fromLGUs and the private sector, therice industry can look forward toachieving the palay productiontarget of 17 million MT or morefor crop year 2010, Malabanansaid.

He said the DA aims to in-

crease areas planted to hybridrice to at least 600,000 to800,000 hectares in 2013.

Malabanan said the DA, un-der the GMA Rice Program, cur-rently grants subsidy for thepurchase of hybrid rice seeds,and teaches farmers how to op-timize yields using hybrid seeds.

These initiatives are done bythe DAs Regional Field Units(DA-RFUs) and the National Ir-rigation Administration (DA-NIA),in collaboration with the localgovernment units (LGUs), farm-ers groups and private seed

Hybrid rice ... (from p1)

World 2010 rice ... (from p1)DA to distribute ... (from p1)ports of Africa may decline, FAO

added.The expansion in world rice

trade in 2010 is forecast to bemet by larger exports fromChina, Myanmar, Thailand, theUnited States, and Pakistan.

On the other hand, a reduc-tion of domestic supplies and,in the case of India, the mainte-

nance of export restrictions, isexpected to depress shipmentsfrom that country, but also fromBrazil and Uruguay.

Global consumption in 2010is forecast to increase by 2.1percent to 454 M tons of milledrice. Of these, 388 M tons areexpected to be consumed asfood, six M tons more than in2009.

Meanwhile, international riceprices are weakening due tosluggish world import demand.(FAO-Regional Office for Asia and

the Pacific)

dairy goat development pro-gram.

Four hundred of the importedgoats will be distributed to quali-fied commercial raisers in theVisayas and Mindanao, and therest in Luzon, according to DA-Region 7 (Central Visayas) live-stock coordinator Joel Elumba.

In a report to Agriculture Sec-retary Bernie Fondevilla, Elumbasaid the initial beneficiaries ofthe imported goats include ex-isting commercial goat raiserswho are members of local goatraisers associations.

The goats will be given to themas loans, with each module con-sisting of nine does and onebuck.

The qualified recipients are re-quired to take part in a projectbriefing and undergo a goat-rais-ing training seminar, Elumba

said.

naged to grow by 0.36%.The impact of the dry spell on

agricultural production wouldhave been worse had the DAfailed to retool its budget in theprevious years to enable Philip-pine farms to meet the twin chal-lenges of climate change andglobal trade.

It allocated 86% of its 2010P47-billion budget to various in-frastructure projects that includeconstruction and rehabilitationof irrigation systems, construc-tion of farm-to-market roads,and provision neededpostharvest facilities such asflatbed dryers, corn drying cen-trals, fishports, and storagewarehouses; provision of marketlinkages; and strengthening ofregulatory and disease eradica-tion capabilities.

Agriculture Secretary Bernie G. Fondevilla (5th from left) poseswith officers of the Phil. Assn. of Free-range Poultry Advocates,

Inc., led by its president, Tina Morados (4th from left). The groupraises organic chicken for meat and eggs. The other officers are:Atty. Kenneth Cheng of Bounty Fresh Foods, vice president;Roderick Teng (Freshtori Farm), secretary; Pablito Villegas(Villegas Hobby Farm), treasurer; and Dr. Mikael Crisologo (free-

range poultry practitioner), trustee.

companies.Together, they establish

techno-demo farms to convincefarmers of the benefits of plant-ing hybrid rice, and adopt newtechnologies.

A techno-demo never fails toimpress farmers since it reallyshows them rice farming is prof-

itable with the use of hybridrice, Malabanan noted.

The DA has been promotinghybrid rice technology since2001 under the GMA Rice Pro-gram to further increase nationalrice production and attain self-sufficiency.

The DAs Bureau of AgriculturalStatistics said total area plantedto hybrid rice in 2009 reached191,368 hectares, contributing1,015,467 MT to national palayproduction, with an average yield

of 5.31 MT/ha.

Organic poultry farmers seek DAs help

The Philippine Association ofFree-range Poultry Advocates,Inc. is seeking help from theDepartment of Agriculture togovern the countrys fledglingfree-range poultry industry,which to date has 100 farmsnationwide, said its presidentLina Morados.

The group is particularlyrequesting the DA to helpestablish standards for free-range breeding, feeds, growingperiod, breeder sources, andlabelling of free-range poultryproducts.

Morados operates thePamora Farm in Pidigan, Abra,in partnership with a French

entrepreneur.She said the cost of imported

breeders from Sasso, Hubbardand other suppliers is high, andthis makes organic chickenbreeding and production costly.

She has been in operation for10 years, producing 2,000chicken monthly, which shesells to restaurants and hotelsthat serve organic meat chicken.

Recently, she also put up achicken dressing plant.

She said free-range chickenare fed with natural food and

herbal products. They grow totwo kilos or more in 81 days.(Manila Bulletin)


12/12

BAFPS and GMA Corn honors 2009Outstanding Quality Corn Farmers

Area-wide conferences, national forumon water to be held in June

Agriculture secretary BernieG. Fondevilla ordered the DAManagement Committee(ManCom) members, through amemo dated May 18, 2010, toconduct a series of area-wideconferences and national forumon Charting Our Water Future:A Multi-Stockholder Policy andProgram Dialogue through theNational Agricultural and Fish-ery Council (NAFC) and theBureau of Soils and Water Man-agement (BSWM) in partner-ship with the Department of En-vironment and Natural Re-sources (DENR).

Representatives from nationalgovernment agencies, includingthose from the local governmentunits, civil society organizationsand private sector-led agricul-tural and fishery councils willparticipate in these area-wideconferences and national forum.The fora will serve as the venuefor building a shared under-standing of the water-relatedchallenges and constraints fac-ing the agriculture and fisheriessector, and impacting on foodsecurity, productivity and mar-ket competitiveness.

Moreover, the fora will serveas the window that will openopportunities by which stake-holders can be encouraged toadapt Integrated Water Re-sources Management (IWRM)practices and initiatives, espe-cially in the area of efficient wa-ter use, demand managementand watershed protection.

Likewise, with such conver-gence of knowledgeable per-sons, they will be in a better

position to draw up policies andinnovative instruments that willgovern water security programsrelevant to the protection and thefuture of agriculture and fisher-ies in the country.

The following is the scheduleof the national forum and area-wide conferences this June2010: Visayas (Regions 6, 7 and

8), June 2-3 in BoholNorthern Mindanao (Regions

9, 10 and CARAGA), June 7-8in Cagayan de Oro Southern Mindanao (Re-

gions 11, 12 and ARMM), June10-11 in Cagayan de Oro Northern and Central Luzon

(CAR, Regions 1, 2 and 3), June15-16 in Pampanga Southern Luzon (NCR,

CALABARZON, Bicol), June 17-18 in PampangaNational Forum is tentatively

scheduled on June 24 in ManilaIn line with the directive of the

Secretary, all heads of DA bu-reaus, services, GMA programdirectorates, attached agenciesand corporations are enjoined toattend the national forum. Theyare also tasked to submit inputs,such as water-related policiesthat need to be discussed,amended and/or strengthened;issues, gaps and other con-cerns that need to be ad-dressed, which will serve as in-puts to the national forum spe-cifically in drafting policy state-ments and/or development ofprogram/projects to be launchedto ensure water security for ag-riculture and fisheries.

Being always open to newfarming technologies and pick-ing up from the lessons and ex-periences of other productivecorn farmers have primarilyguided Mr. Jaime L. Calumpit tobe awarded the countrys 2009Most Outstanding Quality CornFarmer.

The outstanding corn farmerfrom Ifugao province and sevenregional outstanding quality cornfarmers were honored during the4th National Aflatoxin Confer-ence held last April 29, 2010 inBohol province.

For two succeeding yearssince the search started, theCordillera Autonomous Region(CAR) has consistently baggedthe national award, which paystribute to productive corn farm-ers who have not only attainedhigh yields but have managedto produce quality corn grainswith zero or very low aflatoxinlevels.

The annual search is in keep-ing with the imperative of DA tomake the corn industry globallycompetitive through the Philip-pine National Standard (PNS)Code of Good Agricultural Prac-tices (GAP) for corn.

GMA-Corn National ProgramCoordiantor and DA Asst. Sec.Dennis B. Araullo and Bureauof Agriculture and FisheriesProduct Standard (BAFPS) Di-

rector Gilbert E. Layese led therecognition and awarding ritesfor Mr. Calumpit and the regionaloutstanding quality corn farm-ers, namely; Maximo R.Rabanal (DA-RFU 1), FelicisimaG. de los Santos (DA-RFU 2),Indalencio S. Supan (DA-RFU3), Renato J. Alcantara (DA-RFU4-A), Adelaida V. Paulite (DA-RFU 5), Eleuterio P. Fanilag(DA-RFU 9), and Grace E.Buenaflor (DA-RFU 12).

The National awardee re-ceived a plaque of recognitionand a cash prize of P75,000.00while each of the regional win-ners also received a plaque anda cash award of P40,000.00from Asst. Sec. Araullo and Di-

rector Layese. They were as-sisted by DA-RFU VII RegionalExecutive Director Ricardo D.Oblena, Regional Technical Di-rector for Operations Angel C.Enriquez, and Dr. Candido B.Damo and Edna T. Begino of theNational Technical WorkingGroup on Corn Quality Manage-ment, who spearheaded the pro-cess of selecting the winners.

BAFPS Director Layese an-nounced that starting in 2010,the search for most outstand-ing quality corn farmer will beincluded as one of the catego-ries in the annual GAWADSAKA Awards. (DA-RAFID 7)

2009 National Most Outstanding Quality Corn farmer, Jaime L.Calumpit(4th from left) of Ifugao province received his plaque and

cash prize from Asst. Secretary and GMA Corn Program nationalDirector Dennis Araullo and BAFPS Director Gilbert Layese. Othersin photo are (L-R) DA-RFU 7 Regional Technical Director Angel C.

Enriquez, Regional Executive Director Ricardo D. Oblena, NationalCorn RTWG members Dr. Candido Damo and Edna

Begino.(G.Dagala, DA-RAFID 7)

Agriculture Secretary Bernie G. Fondevilla (2nd from left) signs amemorandum of agreement which seeks to improve agrometforecasting capability, with (L-R) DA-BSWM Director Silvino Q.Tejada, Department of Science and Technology Secretary Estrella F.

Alabastro, and Engr. Catalino L.Davis of the Philippine Atmospheric,Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA).Under the agreement, the government agencies will jointly implement

the upgrading of agromet stations , data sharing and training program

for observers and users of data more importantly to the agriculturesector.

Aggie Trends May 2010

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