DDDDDA prA prA prA prA proposes P57-B PPP aoposes P57-B PPP aoposes P57-B PPP aoposes P57-B PPP aoposes P57-B PPP agggggri prri prri prri prri projectsojectsojectsojectsojects

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DA Secretary Proceso J. Alcala (left) presents to prospective foreigninvestors at the ‘Infrastructure Philippines 2010’ six initial projectsworth P57 billion for Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) .

Senate okaysDA 2011 budgetThe Philippine Senate approved

on November 30, 2010, the pro-posed P38.58-billion 2011 budgetof the Department of Agriculture.

Agriculture Secretary ProcesoJ. Alcala thanked the Senatorsfor the unprecedented swift ap-proval of the streamlined and lean2011 DA budget, which would bespent mostly in irrigation projectsand major programs particularlyon rice and corn to achieve self-

CA confCA confCA confCA confCA confiririririrms SPJms SPJms SPJms SPJms SPJAAAAA

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Agriculture Secretary ProcesoJ. Alcala offered an initial P57-billion worth of projects to foreignand Filipino investors during the‘Infrastructure Philippines 2010:Investing & financing in Public-Private Partnership (projects,’ atManila Marriot Hotel, in PasayCity, November 19, 2010.

These include three food sup-ply chain and postharvest facil-ity projects, totaling P9 billlion(B), and three irrigation and hy-dro-electric multi-purposeprojects, worth P48B.

In his presentation, Sec. Alcalasaid President Benigno S.Aquino III is banking on the PPPto hasten rural infrastructurebuild-up and help ensure food se-curity and sufficiency.

Through the PPP, more pro-duction, post-production andmarketing facilities – includinggrains terminals, refrigeration fa-cilities, orderly road networksand trading posts – could be putup in key food production areasacross the country.

“The presence of these facili-ties will make agribusiness andthe compression of the supplychain all the more possible. Thiswill bring about the lowering ofcosts, higher rural incomes, andbetter returns on investments foragribusiness,” Sec. Alcala

added.As government’s financial and

management resources are lim-ited, he stressed that “we can-not address the challenge ofgreater food and agribusinessdevelopment alone.”

“We therefore welcome asmany partners to share and helpus address the challenges andimperatives of rural modernizationand growth in the Philippinescountryside,” he added.

He noted that investments areneeded to make the country’sagri-fishery sector achieve suffi-cient measure of productivity andcompetitiveness, amidst expand-

Agri dips by 2.6%,Jan-Sept. 2010

Despite the Department ofAgriculture’s interventions tominimize the effects of El Ninoduring the first half of the year,the country’s agriculture sectorslowed down by 2.6 percent (%),even as the poultry, livestock andfisheries subsectors posted re-spective gains.

The prolonged dry spell exacteda heavy toll on the crops

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sufficiency by 2013. The DA budget was sponsored

by Senate finance committeechair Franklin Drilon. SenatorJuan Miguel Zubiri chaired theplenary session.

After Senator Drilon answeredthe query of lone interpellatorSenator Vicente Sotto III, the DA2011 budget was approved inabout 10 minutes, as the delib-eration commenced at 11:24 pmand ended at 11:33 pm.

Senator Zubiri commendedSec. Alcala’s efforts to making

Newly-confirmed Sec. Proceso J. Alcala shares his triumph with DA employees. (Pls turn to p15)

“Mag-de-deliver kami sa aming trabaho! (We will de-liver on our assigned work/tasks!)

“Ngayon po na wala na po kaming isyu, kundi panaytrabaho, ‘wag po kayo mag-alala, magde-deliver po kami!(Now that there are no issues against us, but all work,please don’t worry, we will deliver!)” thus vowed Agricul-ture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala.

He and three other Cabinet members of PresidentBenigno S. Aquino III were confirmed by the Commissionon Appointments (CA) December 15, 2010, during its lastplenary session for the year, chaired by Senate Presi-dent Juan Ponce Enrile.

Also confirmed were public works Secretary RogelioSingson, tourism Secretary Alberto Lim and educationSecretary Armin Luistro.

Vol. XXV No. 11 A monthly publication of the Department of Agriculture November - December 2010

2

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

Bethzaida Bustamante, Mc. Bien Saint Garcia, Jay Ilagan, Catherine Nanta

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 InformationService, 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: da_afis@yahoo.com.

Editor-In-Chief : Noel O. Reyes

Associate Editors: Karenina Salazar & Cheryl C. Suarez

Photographers: Jose Lucas, Alan Jay Jacalan, & Kathrino Resurreccion

Lay-out Artist: Bethzaida Bustamante

Printing & Circulation: Teresita Abejar & PCES Staff

Editorial

Boksing sa BukidSiguradong magpahangga

ngayon, karamihang mgaPinoy dito sa bansa at iba’t-ibang sulok ng mundo aynagdiriwang pa rin sapagkapanalo ni MannyPacquiao kay AntonioMargarito ng Mexico.

Muling bumilib angsambayanang Pilipino atmaging ang buong mundodahil nakipagsabayan si‘Congressman Pacman’ sabawat suntok ng ‘TijuanaTornado,’ kahit ito’y masmalaki, matangkad atmabigat.

Sabi nga niya sa isangkomersyal ng gamot: “Bawataray ay patunay na buonggaling ang iyong ibinibigay.”

Sa madaling salita,inspirasyon ng ating‘Pambansang Kamao’ angbawat sakit na kanyangtinatamo sa loob ng ring — atmarahil sa labas na rin.

Laki sa hirap ang kagalang-galang na Kinatawan ngSarangani. Siya ay lubusangnagtiyaga at nagsumikapnoong siya’y bata pa.Ngayon, siya’y umaani ngtagumpay.

Sa larangan agrikultura,pangkaraniwan na angganitong kwento.

Bugbog sarado man angating mga magsasaka atmangingisda sa mgaproblemang kinakaharap nilasa araw-araw, pilit silangbumabangon at lumalaban —nakikipag-boxing kumbaga —sa pagnanais na umani ngsapat na pagkain para sabayan, at kumita ng malakipara sa kanilang pamilya.

Sa panahon ngayon, hindikatiyakan ang magandang uring binhi o pataba upangkamtin ang mataas na ani.Maraming salik pa angmaaaring makaapekto ditokabilang na ang nagbabagongklima na minsa’y nagdudulotng mahahabang tagtuyot atmapaminsalang bagyo.

Noong nakaraang Oktubrelamang, nakita natin sapananalasa ng bagyong‘Juan,’ na nag-iwan ng bilyon-bilyong pisong pinsala saagrikultura at iba pangimprastraktura. Halos ma-

knock-out ang mga palayansa Cagayan Valley, Ilocandiaat Gitnang Luzon.

Upang tugunan angkahalintulad na suliranin samga darating na panahon,naghain ng panukala saKongreso para sa pagtatatagng isang ‘rice reserve system’— na magsisilbing imbakanng bigas na maaaring hugutinsa panahon ng krisis.

Tinutulan rin ng Kongresoang pagtanggal sa pondo ngNational Food Authority parasa pagbili ng palay. Ito’yupang patuloy makabili ngpalay at mais ang NFA samga maliliit na magsasaka.

Pinagtibay din ng atingmga Kongresista ang suportasa pagpapatayo ng mga post-harvest facility, trading post,processing center, atpaglalagay ng ‘food supplychain system.’ Isang hakbangito para mabawasan angmiddlemen at makapagbentang direkta ang ating mgamagsasaka sa mga whole-saler.

Sinimulan na ring ligawanni Sec. Procy Alcala ang mgapribadong sektor paramamuhunan sa agrikultura.Una nang nagpakita nginteres ang San MiguelCorporation sa pag-export ngsugpo sa Japan.

Tinitingnan na rin bilangpotential export market parasa ating mga livestock atpoultry product ang SouthKorea at Singapore.

Ani coach Freddie Roach,matinding training at condi-tioning — araw-araw naehersisyo at milya-milyangpagtakbo — angpinagdadaanan ng ating‘Pambansang Kamao’ bagosiya humarap sa anumanglaban.

Ito rin ang kailangan.ngating mga magsasaka atmangingisda: Paghahanda saanumang kakaharapingpagsubok.

Kung sasabayan pa nila ngpagsisikap at determinasyon— katuwang ang tulong ngpamahalaan sa pamamagitanng DA at iba pang ahensiya— sigurado ang kanilangpanalo at asenso.

Sec. Alcala (middle) instructs National Irrigation Administration (NIA)officials to speed up the rehabilitation of the Upper Chico River Irri-gation System (UCRIS so it could irrigate an additional 4,000 hect-ares in Kalinga and Isabela, increasing the system's total service areato 15,000 hectares. With him are (from right) Kalinga Governor JocelBaac, DA-CAR director Lucrecio Alviar, Jr., NIA Region 2 directorJohn Socalo, and UCRIS manager Raymundo Apil.

The Department of Agriculture’sNational Irrigation Administrationwill rehabilitate the Upper ChicoRiver Irrigation System (UCRIS),estimated to cost P700 million.

During a visit in Kalinga, Sec-retary Proceso J. Alcala in-structed NIA officials in the Cor-dillera Administrative Region tosubmit a plan to speed up therepair of UCRIS.

“The Upper Chico River Irriga-tion System will optimize the ser-vice area by an additional 4,000hectares,” Alcala said.

The rehabilitation involves con-creting and upgrading of irrigationcanals.

DA-NIA to rehab UCRISJohn Socalo, NIA-CAR man-

ager, said that some 26 kilome-ters of irrigation canals will berehabilitated.

When done in 2012, UCRIS willirrigate additional 4,000 hectaresin Tabuk and Pinukpuk inKalinga, and Quezon and Malligin Isabela.

These would in turn produceadditional palay harvest of 20,000metric tons (MT) per cropping, or40,000 MT per year, at 5 MT perhectare.

Currently, UCRIS has 11,000hectares of irrigable area. Theexisting service area can produce110,000 tons of palay yearly.

November-December 2010 3

DA chief invites Americans to invest in agriAgriculture Secretary Proceso

J. Alcala presented several pos-sible agri-fishery infrastructureprojects that American business-men could invest in, during theDecember 10, 2010 meeting ofthe agribusiness committee of theAmerican Chamber of Commercein the Philippines (AmCham).

Sec. Alcala graced the regularroundtable AmCham meeting tofurther enhance stronger collabo-ration between the Philippinesand the USA in food andagribusiness. AmCham is led byits executive director RobertSears and Philip Soliven, chairof the agribusiness committee.

The DA chief presented simi-lar projects, which he earlier of-fered to foreign and Filipino inves-tors who participated in the re-cent Public-Private Partnershipconference (please read relatedstory on page 1).

Agri-PinoyIn addition, he shared the

Aquino administrations’s agricul-ture framework and programs thatwill be pursued by the Depart-

ment, aptly dubbed AgrikulturangPinoy o Agri-Pinoy.

He said Agri-Pinoy is foundedon the principles of equity, sus-tainable agriculture and partici-patory governance.

“More than just a flagship pro-gram, Agri-Pinoy is a commit-ment to a broad-based agricul-tural growth and rural develop-ment—the preconditions that will

help emancipate smallholdersfrom the bondage of poverty andhunger, of hopelessness and de-spair.

“It is guided by the rationalethinking and actions on food se-curity and self-sufficiency; sus-tainable agriculture and fishery;natural resource management;and local development,” the DAchief said.

“At the core of our food secu-rity blueprint is a campaign torealize self sufficiency in basicstaples, notably rice.

We will strive to eliminateoverdependence on rice importswithin the next three years.

“To realize this goal, we willgenerate new, and rehabilitate orrestore existing, irrigation areasto increase productivity.

Second, we have to provide

Korea grants $22 M for 2 DA projectsThe Korean government through

the Korea International Coopera-tion Agency (KOICA) has providedthe Department of Agriculture a$22-million grant for two projects.

The first, worth $19M, entailsthe construction of small waterimpounding projects (SWIPs) inIsabela and Bukidnon, and a graincenter in a province yet to be iden-tified.

The second project, worth $3M,will go to the DA’s PhilippineCarabao Center (PCC) to furtherincrease the production of up-graded carabaos.

For the first project, severalSWIPs wil be put up in eighttowns in Isabela (Villa Cayaban,San Manuel and Pasa, Ilagan)and Bukidnon (Paradise,Cabanglasan and Managuk,Malaybalay).

The project will be implemented

more postharvest and bulk han-dling service facilities to reducelosses.

Last is the need to establishproduction hubs for high yieldingvarieties of rice seeds and otherfarm inputs such as organic fer-tilizer.

“Next in our agenda is the needto become food secure in otheragricultural commodities.

We have to make food and feedrequirements available, acces-sible and affordable at all times,”he noted.

“We thus look forward to thecontinuing support and coopera-tion of AmCham members, as wepursue to improve the lives of Fili-pino farmers and fishers, andsustain the development andcompetitiveness of Philippineagriculture,” he concluded.

in cooperation with other DAagencies--National Irrigation Ad-ministration (NIA), Bureau ofSoils and Water Management(BSWM) and the Philippine Cen-ter for Post-harvest Developmentand Mechanization (PhilMech).

For the second project, PCCwill establish an institutionalizedelectronic data capture systemto hasten genetic data evaluationand analysis, and create a uni-fied web-based genetic informa-tion system.

It will also intensify PCC’s arti-ficial insemination (AI) servicesand use of embryo technologiesto produce more superior breedof carabaos.

This entails upgrading the fa-cilities and services of the PCCNational Bull Farm and SemenLaboratory in Carranglan, NuevaEcija.

Sec. Alcala (2nd from right) stresses a point during the December 2010 meeting of the American Cham-ber of Commerce of the Philippines (AmCham), inviting them to invest in irrigation systems, grainsterminals, postharvest and food supply chain facilities, among others. With him (from left) are: PhillipShull, US embassy agricultural counselor; Philip Soliven, chair, agribusiness committee; and AmChamexecutive director Robert Sears.

$22-M KOICA grant. Top photo shows Agriculture Undersecretaryfor Special Concerns Bernadette Romulo-Puyat (3rd from left) andand Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) resident rep-resentative Jinoh Kim (2nd from left) sign the Records of Discussion(ROD) Nov. 5, 2010, between KOICA and DA to construct water im-pounding facilities and grain processing complex in Isabela andBukidnon, totaling $19M. With them are Senator Francis Pangilinan(right), chair of the Senate committee on agriculture, and NationalIrrigation Administrator Antonio Nangel (left). Bottom photo alsoshows Usec. Puyat, Sen. Pangilinan, Mr. Kim and Dir. Libertado Cruz(left) of the DA-Philippine Carabao Center (PCC) during the signingceremony of the second component of the KOICA grant worth $3M toincrease production of upgraded carabaos.

4

SPJA swears in new batch of DA officialsAgriculture Secretary Proceso

J. Alcala has sworn in a newbatch of DA officials, who wereappointed by President BenignoS. Aquino III.

The officials, numbering 18, arecomposed mainly of re-appoin-tees and a couple of new faces:two DA regional directors (RDs),nine assistant regional directors(ARDs), three assistant bureaudirectors, two assistant regionalbureau directors, an agencydeputy executive director, and anagency board member. They are:

DA RDs: Antonio Gerundio,Reg. 4-B; and Jimmy Olivo, Reg.12;

DA ARDs: Danilo Daguio, Cor-dillera; Valentino Perdido, Reg.2; Remelyn Recoter and JoyceWendam, Reg. 6; EduardoAlama and Angel Enriquez, Reg.7; Constancio Alama and RoxanaHojas, Reg. 9; and TeodoraPellerin-Fiel, Reg. 13;

Ass’t Dirs. (Bureau/Agency):Dante de Lima, Bureau of PlantIndustry and concurrent nationalcoordinator of the High ValueCommercial Crops Program (newappointee); Wilfredo Cabezon,

Bureau of Soils and Water Man-agement; Teodoro Solsoloy, Bu-reau of Agricultural Research;Marjurie Grutas, Bureau of Fish-eries and Aquatic Resources(BFAR) Reg. 5; Miguel Baay,BFAR Reg. 13; and Atty. GavinoBarlin, Deputy Exec. Dir., Fertil-izer and Pesticide Authority;

Board Member: ArchimedesAmarra, Sugar Regulatory Ad-ministration.

Sec. Alcala also designatedthe following DA officials:

Marriz Agbon, President, Phil.Agricultural Dev’t. and Commer-cial Corp. (PADCC), as focal per-son and chairman of the nationaltechnical working group, DA-DAR-DENR National Conver-gence Initiative for SustainableRural Development;

Noel Padre, OIC-Director, DAPolicy Research Service;

Amparo Ampil, Chief of PolicyAdvocacy and Legislative Sup-port Div., DA-PRS; and

Janet Garcia, Special Ass’t. forAPEC matters to theUndersecretary for Policy andPlanning.

Agriculture Secretary ProcesoAlcala has enjoined the country’sleading food and agribusinessconglomerate, San Miguel FoodCorporation (SMFC), to help gov-ernment further expand and makethe country’s agriculture, fisheryand agribusiness industries glo-bally competitive.

During the “Usapang Agri withSec. Alcala” at the DiscoverySuites, Pasig City, he said theAquino administration will forgestronger partnerships betweengovernment and the private sec-tor, including SMFC, to help at-tain food security.

Sec. Alcala said the DA is look-ing into the possibilities of collabo-rating with SMFC in exporting live-stock products, such as sheepwhich has a good market in In-donesia.

Meanwhile, he commendedSMFC for exporting yakitori orgrilled chicken to Japan. Thecountry has exported some sixmillion kilograms of yakitori in2009.

Thus, he urged SMFC to ex-

DA urges SMFC to invest more

in agribusiness enterprises

Sec.Alcala (2nd from left) shares a toast of chocolate milk with gradeone pupils of Sagad Elementary School in Pasig City during the cer-emonial launch of ‘Food for Progress’ milk-feeding program, spear-headed by the DA-National Dairy Authority (NDA), where it will dis-tribute milk and cookies donated by the United States Dep’t. of Agri-culture, and processed by Republic Flour Mills Corp. into UHT milkand fortified biscuits. Close to 82,000 Filipino children from 265elementary schools affected by last year’s typhoons ‘Ondoy’ and‘Pepeng’ are expected to benefit from the DA-USDA-RFM program.Shown with Sec. Alcala are (from left): NDA administrator GraceCenas, USDA Attaché David Wolf, RFM President and CEO Jose Ma.Concepcion III, Pasig Representative Roman Romulo; and Agricul-ture Undersecretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat.

plore more export opportunities inJapan, particularly prawns.

“The Japan Agriculture, Forestryand Fisheries Minister told me inour discussion that they neverbanned the Philippines in export-ing prawns to them. It just hap-pened that the industry went downbecause of overproduction anddisease incidence,” Alcala said.

He also revealed that he hasconvinced some exporters andbuyers, including South Koreaand Singapore, to buy livestockand poultry products from thePhilippines. He said the DA isworking double time in obtainingneeded permits and authorizationregarding livestock products.

“Our job is to look for availableopportunities in the internationalmarket, and match the right com-panies to take care of exports,”Alcala added.

He commended SMFC in sup-plying needed fish feed in supportof government’s maricultureprojects—a growing industrywhich now contributes a big por-tion to the country’s total aquac-

ulture production.For his part, SMFC President

Francisco Alejo gave his assur-ance that the company will con-tinue to work closely with the DA,not just in sustaining existing pro-grams but in creating more stra-tegic and innovative ways of fur-ther developing and advancing the

Sec. Alcala (above, right) shares the thrusts of the DA with SanMiguel Food Corporation (SMFC) officials and employees to fur-ther bolster partnership with the country’s leading food conglomer-ate during a forum, dubbed ‘Usapang Agri with Sec. Alcala.’ Joininghim are SMFC Vice President and GM Ma. Tatish Palabyab (left)and San Miguel Purefoods Company Inc. President Francisco Alejo.

country’s agriculture and fishery

sector.

“We really want to drive the

administration’s key strategy of

advancing the country’s growth to

public-private sector partnership,

and we want to deliver results,”

Alejo said.

November-December 2010 5

Some P90-million worth of pro-posed agri-fishery projects werepresented during the first VisayasAgribusiness Market Place(VAMP), November 22, 2010, inIloilo City.

“We chose Visayas to do thefirst regional Agribusiness Mar-ket place because it shows therest of the Philippines that theNational Convergence Initiative(NCI) really works,” said MarrizAgbon, National Convergence Ini-tiative focal person and presidentof the DA-Philippine AgriculturalDevelopment and CommercialCorporation (PADCC).

In a report to DA-DAR-DENRNCI steering committee headedby Agriculture Secretary ProcesoJ. Alcala, Agbon said the propo-nents were able to evaluate anddesign ten investment-ready pro-posals for marketing and busi-ness matching.

The event showcased the pack-aged agribusiness investmentproposals (AIPs) that promote in-vestments into new agribusinessareas in the country.

The AIPs were prepared by therespective proponents, particu-larly cooperatives, from RegionsVI, VII and VIII.

A number of private investorsand possible financial partnersjoined the market place.

On top of the list is a P45-mil-lion project on abaca fiber pro-cessing and marketing proposedby Barbaza Multi-purpose Coop-erative, in Antique.

There is already an existing378-hectare abaca plantation inthe local convergence agro-enter-

P90-M agri-fishery projectsproposed in Visayas

prise cluster of Central Antique,covering five municipalities. Andthere are still areas for expan-sion.

A second project is the instal-lation of a sterilization facility atthe Negros Oriental Dairy Pro-cessing Plant (NDPP) amount-ing to P14 million.

The dairy plant will produce 180-ml sterilized milk product in doypouches that would last up to sixmonths at ambient temperature.

The project would be a boostto the food industry in Negros Ori-ental and would alleviate the live-lihood of dairy farmers and theirfamilies.

Other proposed projects in-clude the establishment of pro-cessing plants of cassava gratesand flour, processing and market-ing of native chicken, coco sugar,squash noodles, tilapia nuggets,jackfruit production and process-ing, organic peanut production,and sibukao business for fire-wood, among others.

The Visayas Agribusiness Mar-ket Place was made possible thruthe assistance of the GermanAgency for Technical Coopera-tion (GTZ), development partnerof the DA-DAR-DENR NCI onvarious programs and endeavorstowards sustainable rural devel-opment. (Angelica Barlis, DA-PADCC)

Marriz Agbon (center), National Convergence Initiative (NCI) focalperson, explains to mediapersons the current and planned programsof the NCI during the ‘First Visayas Agribusiness Market Place,’ inIloilo. With him are (from left) DA-Reg. 6 technical director (RTD)Remelyn Recoter and DA Reg. 8 RTD Wilson Cerbito.

The DA through the Bureau ofAnimal Industry (BAI) recentlyimported the first batch of pure-bred goats (628) and sheep (290)

DA-BAI imports 900 US goats, sheeps to upgrade local herdsheep from the United Statesunder the US Public Law 480funded project, entitled “”Accel-erating the Genetic ResourceImprovemnt Program for BeefCattle and Small Ruminants”(AGRIPBES).

The project is done in collabo-ration with the DA-National Agri-culture and Fishery Council(NAFC) and Regional Field Units.

A total of 1,800 head of smallruminants will be imported fromthe US under the project.

These are expected to producelocal-born ‘mestizo’ or upgraded9,000 goats and 5,000 sheep infour years.

The initial stocks will be dis-tributed to DA’s small ruminantcenters (SRCs) nationwide andprivate-owned nucleus farms thatare tasked to produce upgradedoffsprings that will be distributedto small livestock raisers.

“We consider improved genet-ics as the boost that the indus-

Sec. Alcala (above) commends the country’s biotechnologists for theircontinuing efforts in conducting researches and studies to come upwith innovative biotech farm, fishery and processed food products,during the 6th National Biotechnology Week, November 22, 2010, atSM Mall of Asia. DA Undersecretary Segfredo Serrano (bottom photo,center) cuts a ribbon to open the affair’s exhibits and proceedings.Assisting him (from left) are Bureau of Agricultural Research Dir.Nicomedes Eleazar, DA-Biotechnology Program Dir. CandidaAdalla, Dep’t. of Trade and Industry Dir. Dennis Miralles, and Dep’t.of Health Dir. Nazarita Tacandong.

try needs to transform itself,” saidDr. Baltazar P. Mateo, programmanager of AGRIPBES.

Small ruminants have big andunexplored potentials, as thereis growing local demand for goatand sheep meat, including milkand milk products, as well as inMuslim countries.

The US goats and sheep arepresently kept at the SRC in Cen-tral Luzon State University(CLSU), Science City of Munoz,Nueva Ecija, and at the ASEANGoat and Sheep Center (AGSC)of the DA-BAI, in Pagadian City.

The arrival of the initial batchwas witnessed by Pablo Siasico,AGSC center chief, SRC Direc-tor Dr. Emilio Cruz, BAI Dir. EfrenC. Nuestro, Dr. Mateo, BAI plan-ning officer Luisito Mariano, andSan Fernando AgriculturalLivesstock Development Corpo-ration (SFALDC) representativeAtty. Manuelito Tayag. (BAI-

NAFC)

6

Senator Francisco Pangilinan (right), DA Undersecretary BernadetteRomulo-Puyat and Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) di-rector Ronilo Beronio cut a ribbon to start the 25th anniversary cel-ebration of PhilRice on Nov. 5, 2010, at its headquarters, ScienceCity of Munoz, Nueva Ecija.

Thus said Senator Francis N.Pangilinan, chair of the Senatecommittee on agriculture, as heemphasized the need for a moreencompassing approach in agri-culture and propel the country tobe a developed nation in the next15 years.

“We cannot reach the devel-oped nation status unless weaddress agriculture, uplift the in-come of farmers and fisherfolk,and ensure food security and ricesufficiency,” Sen. Pangilinan saidduring the 25th anniversary cel-ebration of the Philippine Rice Re-search Institute (PhilRice), Nov.5.

To become a developed nation,Pangilinan underscored the im-mediacy of “winning the war”against problems that delay thecountry in alleviating its status asone the worlds’ largest rice im-porter.

The Philippines, which hasbeen importing rice for 36 years,is currently the world’s biggestrice importer.

However, the country did notimport rice in 1978-1983; 1987;1991-1992; and 1994.

Saluting PhilRice for its “sacri-fices in helping the country be-

‘Improve agri for RPto be a developed nation’

come rice sufficient,” the formerSenate majority leader said theburden of providing enough ricefor the all Filipinos entails collec-tive action from the government,private, academe, and businesssectors.

“[The bid for enough rice is notonly the responsibility of PhilRice.Rice sufficiency] is everyone’sconcern,” he pointed out.

In public administration,Pangilinan called for a sustainedand efficient implementation ofagriculture-related policies anddrafting of a road map for agricul-ture, which will be executed andsustained for more than six years.

Stressing that no country hasprogress without a plan extend-ing to 20 years, he revealed thata multi-sectoral planning work-shop will be held in January 2011to craft a new agricultural devel-opment plan that will not only im-prove rice productivity but willalso increase the income of ricefarmers.

“Even if we have attained ricesufficiency, but our farmers’ con-ditions are not improved, the waris not fully won.”

“Let us not forget that there arefaces [behind the grains that weconsume]. It is unjust to increaserice productivity without liftingfarmers’ economic status,” hesaid.

Meanwhile, UndersecretaryBernadette T. Romulo-Puyat ofthe Department of Agriculture(DA) urged PhilRice to further in-crease farmers’ access on high-yielding and climate change-ready seeds; develop practicaland cost-efficient technologies;promote initiative and supportfrom policy research to guide de-cision makers in “deciding ac-tions that would help the countyachieve the millennium develop-ment goal of slashing poverty andhunger by half in 2015.”

Puyat, representing DA, con-gratulated PhilRice for its “effi-cient and honest labors in pro-moting technologies and knowl-edge,” which according to her,are for the environment and forthe people.

“Thank you for your commend-able service to the Filipinos,”Puyat said to about 500 PhilRicestaff gathered together to recog-nize the Institute’s outstandingemployees, loyalty and scholas-tic awardees, and to pay tributeto its benefactors. (PhilRice)

Exports of coconut oil andother coconut by-productsreached an unprecedented levelof $1.57 billion, 78 per cent morethan last year’s value of $884million.

In a report to AgricultureSecretary Proceso J. Alcala,Philippine Coconut Authority(PCA) Administrator Oscar G.Garin said initial estimates ofcoconut exports reports fromJanuary to December 2010showed a total of $1,570,329,790compared with 2009 earnings of$884,022,338 for the sameperiod.

Volume of coco exportsincreased by 55.5%, totalling2,355,521 MT compared with2009 figure of 1,514,942 MT.

Garin said this is the fifth in thecountry’s history when coconutexports hit the billion-dollar mark.The first time was in 1979 with$1,037,373,000.

Coconut oil remains the topcoconut export product, whichthis year posted earnings of$1.217 billion, double than lastyear’s level of $588 million.

This was mainly due to highercoco oil prices in the worldmarket.

Volume of coconut oil exportswent up by 64% to 1,355,618 MTcompared with last year’s 826,237MT.

Garin said that this is indeed aremarkable year for the coconutindustry.

The increased demand forcoconut oil came both from the

2010 coco exports up by 78%local and international markets.

He attributed the increaseddemand in the local market to theimplementation of the mandated2% blend of coco methyl esterwith petro diesel as one of thebig factors.

Meanwhile, he said the PCAcontinues to vigorouslyimplement its National CoconutProductivity Program with itsParticipatory Coconut PlantingProject and Salt FertilizationProject.

The PCA sponsored a two-day‘Philippine Coconut IndustrySummit,’ Dec. 9-10, at thePhilippine Social Science Center,

in Quezon City, to assess thecurrent status and performanceof the coconut industry, and serveas a venue for all stakeholdersto formulate a medium-termindustry roadmap. (CoconutMedia Service)

Mechanization jibes with organic farmingFarm mechanization and

organic farming can go together.Thus said Director Ricardo

Cachuela of the DA-PhilippineCenter for Post HarvestDevelopment and Mechanization(PhilMech).

“Post harvest andmechanization are very muchapplicable in organic or naturalfarming,” Cachuela said.

“Organic farming is laborintensive especially during landpreparation, as the soil must betilled or loosened so the roots oforganically-raised plants couldbreathe better.

“So, to till the soil faster andmore efficiently, mechanizationshould be adopted by organicfarmers,” Cachuela noted.

In addition, mechanization

could be adopted in makingcompost or organic fertilizers,such as vermicompost.

More importantly, Cachuelasaid a PhilMech scientist--Dr.Dionisio Alvindia--recentlydeveloped an organic bio-controlsolution against the dreadedbanana crown rot, caused byseveral types of fungi, which hasbeen plaguing the country’sbanana industry for many years.

Dr. Alvindia discovered thatepithetic fungi and bacteria canbe used to control banana crownrot. His discovery is now patentedprior to commercial application.

Traditionally, to control crownrot, farmers and commercialbanana growers spray chemicalfungicides. (DA-PhilMech)

7

“Indeed, information officersplay an important role in the suc-cessful implementation of DA pro-grams and initiatives.”

This was underscored by Agri-culture Secretary Proceso J.Alcala during the DA family pub-lic and regional information offic-ers (PIOs/RIOs) consultativemeeting and planning workshop,December 7-8, 2010, at the Bu-reau of Soils and Water Manage-ment convention hall.

“No matter how good the inten-tions of the DA are in helping farm-ers and fisherfolk, the generalpublic will be clueless about ourprojects, without your help as in-formation officers who are taskedto disseminate needed informa-tion,” the DA chief stressed dur-ing the year-end gathering ofabout four dozens of DA PIOs andRIOs, including DA-OSEC ser-vices and program directorates.

“As frontliners in promoting thedepartment’s image, you are alsovital instruments in making thepeople know and feel the true pro-grams of the DA.” he added.

In particular, he requested thegroup to translate into various dia-lects the many reading materialson modern technologies and tipson agriculture and fishery, andmessages aired on local radio andtelevision networks — for betterappreciation and easier under-standing of small farmers andfisherfolk.

Sec. Alcala also emphasizedthe significant role of Local Gov-ernment Units (LGUs) in broad-ening the DA programs, and forthese to be ‘felt’ by small farm-ers, fishers and ruralfolk.

He said the LGUs — throughthe provincial and municipal offic-ers, and extension workers — di-rectly interact with farmers, fish-ers and ruralfolk, and as such “weshould provide them needed in-formation on a regular basis.”

Among the resource personswho shared the current thrustsand programs of the DA were:

•Undersecretary BernadetteRomulo-Puyat, who discussedthe Agri-Pinoy program (pleaseread related story on page 3);

•Ass’t. Dir. Alberto Manindingof the Agricultural Training Insti-tute, update on the DA Rational-ization Plan;

•Ass’t. Dir. Gil Adora of theBureau of Fisheries and AquaticResources, on current and

SPJA: Info officers are vitalin promoting DA programs

planned fishery projects and ini-tiatives;

•Dir. Ariel Mañalac, update onestablishment of Agri Pinoy trad-ing posts/centers;

•Engr. Roy Abaya (SpecialProjects Coordination and Man-agement Assistance Division),update on DA foreign-assistedprojects; and

•Gary Rubio, updates on cornprogram;

•Glenn Estrada, updates onrice program;

•Arriane Aldeza, updates onHVCC program; and

•Liliosa Carmona (InformationTechnology Center for Agricultureand Fisheries), updates on DAweb page and IT initiatives.

On the second day, two sepa-rate workshops were conducted,with the RIOs drafting an appeal,as instructed by Sec. Alcala, tothe DA Change ManagementTeam to reconsider its recommen-dation to downgrade the Agricul-ture and Fisheries InformationService (AFIS) into a division andthe Regional Agriculture and Fish-eries Information Division (RAFID)into a section.

On the other hand the PIOs ofDA bureaus, attached agenciesand corporations brainstormed onseveral slogans that will accom-pany the DA Agri-Pinoy logo, andthe group’s plans and activitiesnext year, including a quarterlymeeting and sharing of ideas,capabilities and expertise ofamong public information officersof the DA family.

November-December 2010

Sec. Alcala

UndersecretaryB e r n a d e t t eRomulo-Puyat

Sec. Alcala with PIOs of DA Bureaus

Sec. Alcala with PIOs of DA Attached Agencies and Corporations

Sec. Alcala with Regional Information Officers (RIOs)

Science with a human face, the ICRISAT experienceThe colorful brochures read:

The International Crops Re-search Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) is anon-profit, apolitical, interna-tional organization devoted toscience-based agriculturaldevelopment. It works mainlyon agricultural research in thesemi-arid tropics to enhancethe livelihood of the society. Itbelongs to the Alliance ofCenters of the ConsultativeGroup on International Agricul-tural Research.

ICRISAT’s advocacy—SCIENCE WITH A HUMANFACE—stands for the improve-ment of lives of the rural pooras the institute is committed tocontribute to the attainment ofthe Millennium DevelopmentGoals by addressing poverty,hunger, gender and deathissues.

“Science with a human face”is a noble cause that ICRISAThas consistently carried out tobring hope to poor communitiesof the semi-arid tropics world-wide.

“It is research not for its itsown sake, but dedicated to thepoorest of the poor,” claims Dr.William D. Dar, ICRISAT’scurrent Director General who isa former Secretary of theDepartment of Agriculture.

“Our strategy is to mobilizethe power of science andtechnology for the development,food security, poverty allevia-tion, and environmental protec-tion in order to improve the livesand livelihood of communities inthe dry lands,” he added.

During my visit in ICRISATheadquarters located atPatancheru, Andhra Pradesh,India, the following storiesstuck to me like glue, probablybecause I saw, firsthand, theirimpact to the people of Indiaand because of the big possibil-ity that similar success in thefields mentioned below can bereplicated in our country.

The pea potential

Where water is scarce,pigeonpea can grow andproduce aplenty.

Locally known as kadios, thissupercrop of the drylands neednot be watered or fertilized asmuch compared to other crops,requires zero tillage and canadapt to poor soil. Amazinglyeven with minimum inputs, itcan reach yield of one to twometric tons per hectare.

Pigeonpea, a high-proteincrop, is considered an impor-tant food legume in some partsof world. It is rich in Vitamin B, minerals and carbohydrates,

and when processed into “dal”becomes a very important partof the daily diet among vegetar-ians in Asia, Africa and theCaribbean.

Aside from its nutritive value,the pigeonpea plant aids in soilconservation, amelioration andconditioning. It has the capabil-ity to fix the nitrogen content ofthe soil.

A “soil repair kit” of somesort, it can benefit kaingin-devastated lands.

In 1975, pigeonpea whichoriginated in India, entered thePhilippine soil through theefforts of ICRISAT. Today, it isplanted, on a very small scale,in the Ilocos Region, someparts of Cagayan Valley,Batangas, the CordilleraAutonomous Region, Bicol anda few Visayas provinces,mainly for home consumption.

But a bigger market awaits.This year alone, a total of 1.5million metric tons shortage inpigeonpea supply was recordedwith Myanmar and Africachipping in to fill the demand.

“With 3 million hectares of

drylands covering the NorthernLuzon, Central Visayas, andSouthern Mindanao, thePhilippines can be a viablesource of kadios, and there is avery good market for it,”stressed Dar.

Dar is convinced that giventhe needed government supportfor seed production, storage,and postharvest requirements,Philippine-grown pigeonpea canbe exported to the Middle East,Australia and even the UnitedStates.

“Myanmar for exampleexported close to 450,000metric tons (MT) of pigeonpeamostly to India in 2008, peggedat almost $234 million”, hesaid.

Kadios can be a championcommodity. Given the righttechnology and productionsystems, there is money inevery pigeonpea.

Water runs throughKothapally

Kothapally is a 465-hectarevillage which lies in the

By Adora Rodriguez

8

Rangareddy District of AndhraPradesh.

It is one of the driest areas inIndia and depends on the rain,which averages at 800 mm perannum, as its source of water.During rainless months, villagewomen were forced to walkseveral kilometers to fetchwater.

To change the situation, ateam of ICRISAT scientists setup the Adarsha watershedproject in collaboration with thecommunity with the main goalof collecting rainwater duringthe wet season to be usedsolely during the dry season.

More than 250 low-costrainwater harvesting structureswere established includingcheck dams and water depotswhich can store enough waterthat can last until the very endof the dry months.

“Before the project, the landswere planted with cotton andsimilar crops that do not requiretoo much water and only duringthe months when there is rain,”Murali Sharma, of ICRISAT,explains.

With the increased wateravailability, farmers can nowintercrop and plant two varietiesper season.

“Today, rice and maize plantsabound the village,” he added.

The increase in water hasbrought incomes and employ-ment opportunities to villagers.Also, outbound labor migrationdecreased as more villagerschose to stay in Kothapallyafter finding new hope in theirnow greener lands.

Sharma boasts that thewhole village is a living proof oftriumph as almost all residentshave their own success storiesto tell. Income doubled, houseshave been modernized and themalnutrition rate has signifi-cantly decreased.

More importantly, the womenof Kothapally can devote theirtime to other livelihood activitiesnow that they don’t have towalk far to get water.

Agribusiness incubation

“It’s like rearing a child. Youteach him how to take his firstbaby steps until he caneventually walk on his own.”

This is how Dar explained theagribusiness incubation systembeing implemented by ICRISATto aid small time entrepreneursin promoting their products.

“It is a mentoring schemewhich seeks to promote and

commercialize businesses ofthe agriculture sector,” headded.

ICRISAT’s Agri-BusinessIncubator (ABI) which startedeight years ago facilitates thecreation of competitive agri-business enterprises throughtechnology development andcommercialization to benefitfarmers in the semi-arid tropics.While providing the bestopportunity, ABI supportsentrepreneurs with technology,consultancy, networking withmanagement experts, venturecapital funding, marketingexperts and physical infrastruc-ture.

Simply put, ABI helps inproduct development, providenew market opportunities,increase productivity throughinnovative and competitiveproducts as well as speedycommercialization of thetechnology.

“It is a business-like systemthat nurtures the entrepreneurialspirit of farm workers,” Darsaid.

To date, ICRISAT in partner-ship of the Department ofScience and Technology andthe Government of India, hassupported over a hundredagribiz ventures.

The system includes raisingproductivity in the farms, linkingfarmers to markets, reducingcrop pests and diseases, andenhancing environmentalsustainability.

Experts say successful agri-business incubators canprotect crops, create jobs andgrow incomes in the developingworld.

“Like India, the Philippinegovernment must not only caterto big businesses but mustchampion the causes of smallfarmers as well,” Dar said. “TheDA may embrace this approachthrough the Bureau of Agricul-tural Research,” he suggested.

Dar also emphasized thatagro-food system moderniza-tion is a strong engine for directand indirect growth and povertyreduction in developing coun-tries.

“By increasing productivity,connecting smallholders torapidly expanding markets andgenerating jobs in the rural non-farm economy, agricultureprovides pathways out ofpoverty,” he said.

9November-December 2010

‘Adlai,’ anyone?

Adlai panicles Adlai seeds

The Department of Agriculturethrough the Bureau of Agricul-tural Research (BAR), inpartnership with two NGOs(Earthkeepers and MASIPAG),is promoting alternative cereals,such as ‘adlai.’

Similar to rice, adlai may beused in soups and broths, inmaking beer, wine, alcohol,vinegar and tea.

Adlai is said to have herbaleffects, too.

Raquel Oclarit-Salingay, ofMASIPAG Mindanao, said thereare two species of Adlai: Coixlacryma-jobi var. lacryma-jobiand Coix lacryma-jobi var. ma-yuen.

The lacryma-jobi variety,usually found in swamps, isused as beads; while ma-yuenis used as cereal.

Bobby Misa Pagusara, alsoof MASIPAG Mindanao, saidthe importance and potentialsof Adlai are:

• It is more nutritious thanrice and corn, as it is high inprotein. It also contains cal-cium, phosphorus, iron, VitaminA, thiamine, riboflavin andniacin;

• It helps enhance foodbiodiversity;

DA-BAR photos

• It is tolerant to crop pestsand diseases;

• It can be planted at minimalcost, and it can be ratooned;

• It requires single landpreparation;

• There is no need for irriga-tion;

• It is resilient to drought andflood;

• One round of weeding isenough;

• It does not require chemicalfertilizers.

In all, adlai is a ‘low-inputcrop,’ Pagusara said.

For his part, Dr. Chito P.Medina, MASIPAG nationalcoordinator, said there is aneed to explore the potentialsof other lesser-known specieslike adlai.

He said that there are 30,000edible plant species andanother 50,000 that havepotential edible parts, but only7,000 of these species arebeing cultivated for food.

“We should not depend onlyon rice and corn. We needalternative crops so the ricecrisis of 2008 will not recur.

“Now, we have adlai to turnto,” Medina stressed. (DA-BAR)

Seventy-seven year-

old organic farmer

Perfecto ‘Ka Pec’

Vicente of MASIPAG

(Magsasaka at

Siyentipiko para sa

Pag-unlad ng

Agrikultura) shows

off some native rice

varieties which he has

been propagating all

these years.(Please read

related story on page 16)

10

Agriculture SecretaryProceso Alcala is optimisticthat after recently signing thememorandum of agreement onthe proposed new vegetabletrading post the future ofBenguet farmers will no longerbe compromised by profiteer-ing traders.

Alcala said the DepartmentAgriculture (DA) interventionwas necessary to change theatmosphere at the current veg-etable trading post where queu-ing of vegetable trucks takes along time, resulting in spoilageof the vegetables.

He said long lines at the al-ready-overcrowded trading postleads to middlemen interveningin the actual trade just to getfarmers produce on top of thetrading line.

This also leads to traders buy-ing vegetables at low priceswhile the long line results in sur-plus vegetables wasted at thetrading post, he said. “We’repromising bigger queuing ofproducts through an orderly traf-fic flow of vegetables,” he said.

The new trading facility theDA is eyeing is the Benguet

New improved trading post to rise in Benguet

An 11-member group from theNational Chung Hsing University(NCHU) of Taiwan recently visitedthe country for two weeks toexplore possible agricultural andfishery cooperation.

Led by NCHU internationalcooperation director Cho HuiWan, the group visited variousagricultural and fishery projectsand facilities in six provinces(Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur,Pangasinan, Tarlac, Aurora andQuezon).

They were accompanied byDonald C. T. Lee, representativeof the Taipei Economic andCultural Office in the Philippines.

Agriculture Secretary ProcesoAlcala—who hosted theTaiwanese during their inspectionof various projects and facilitiesstay in Quezon—said the visitaims to explore opportunities ofpossible partnerships or jointventures in setting upagribusiness enterprises andmariculture parks, includingsustained promotion andfacilitation of trade between thetwo countries, and exchange ofagricultural and fishery technical

Wilfredo ‘Tibao’ Santander (right), a farmer-technician at theEarthkeeper’s learning farm in Tiaong, Quezon, explains to visitingTaiwanese experts and Representative Donald C. T. Lee (2nd fromleft), of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippines,the organic farming techniques they employ at the half-hectare inte-grated farm, where about 150 native rice varieties are planted. Look-ing on are DA Region 4-A Director Abelardo Bragas (3rd from right)and DA-BPI assistant director and HVCC national program coordi-nator Dante de Lima (2nd from right).

Taiwanese experts visit Phl toenhance agri-fishery cooperation

experts and trainees to sharebreakthroughs in their respectivefields.

Sec. Alcala and Mr. Lee tookthe opportunity to discuss someconcerns that will be included inthe March 2011 meeting of the5th MECO-TECO TechnicalWorking Group (TWG) in thecountry. The meeting is part ofthe MECO-TECO memorandumof understanding on agricultureand fisheries cooperation.

The DA chief suggested toinclude in the agenda an updateon the country’s pending pestrisk analysis (PRA) of variousPhilippine fruits so these couldbe exported to Taiwan.

Mr. Lee also sought Sec.Alcala’s advice on their plan torelocate a Taiwan-initiated hybridcorn demonstration farm inGeneral Santos City. To whichSec. Alcala said it would be wiseto maintain the demo farm, andsuggested potential replicationsites at the Southern Luzon StateUniversity (SLSU) in Quezon, andtwo other agricultural schools inmajor corn-producing provinces.

He said the DA is keen on

increasing the production ofyellow corn for feed and whitecorn to complement rice as thecountry’s major staple, andestablishment of rice and cornpostharvest and processingfacilities.

He also encouraged Taiwan tosource its chicken and eggrequirements from thePhilippines, as the countryremains free from bird flu virus.Taiwan imports chicken, turkeyand beef mostly from the US.

Knowing that Sec. Alcala is anorganic farming advocate, Leesaid there is high demand inTaiwan for organic farm, fisheryand food products.

Mr. Lee cordially invited Sec.Alcala to visit Taiwan next year.

In other sectors, Lee saidTaiwan has constructed aweather station at the Quezon-Bicol boundary, worthUS$280,000, and allotted$170,000 for the renovation of aweather station in Tanay, Rizal.

Taiwan also providesscholarship to 15 agriculturestudents to pursue further studyin Taiwan every year.

In Quezon, the Taiwanesegroup visited the EarthkeepersGarden and Learning Farm, inTiaong; DA-PFDA Dalahican FishPort, in Lucena City; SentrongPamilihan ng ProduktongAgrikultura ng Quezon, inSariaya; and SLSU, in Lucban.

The group was hosted by DAass’t. sec. Salvador Salacup, DAReg. 4-A Dir. Abelardo Bragas,SLSU President Cecilia Gascon,Dalahican fish port managerCarlos Hagosojos, EarthkeepersPresident Teresa Saniano andDA-BPI ass’t. dir. and HVCCnational program coordinatorDante de Lima.

State University-owned lot at thestrawberry fields in La Trinidadthat aside from being a tradingpost will also be equipped withthe latest processing and mar-keting facility based on a feasi-bility study supervised by the De-velopment Academy of the Phil-ippines.

The processing facility will keepsurplus vegetables at the mini-mum because they will be com-ing up with ready-to-eat productslike chopsuey and pinakbet insealed packs.

He also claimed the previousadministration’s National ColdChain project will be continuedand improved by removing atleast two layers in the processof transporting vegetables fromfarm to market.

Benguet Gov. Nestor Fongwanexpressed high hopes the projectwill push through as the LaTrinidad trading post already con-trols 80 percent of upland veg-etables supplied to Metro Ma-nila.

However, he claimed this is notonly the answer to the problemsof the vegetable industry aloneas reaching high-end markets is

also important so vegetableswill be supplied the whole yearround.

He also highlighted thatteaching techniques farmersgood agricultural practices willanswer vegetable industry prob-lems such as organic farming.

Alcala, meanwhile, stressedgood crop rotation as an answerto surplus vegetables.

Traders and dealers at the LaTrinidad vegetable trading post,however, are still unaware thetrading post will be transferredto another location, revenue col-lector John Pacito said.

However, Pacito agreed thecurrent area of the trading postis already crowded that some-times it cannot already accom-modate increasing deliveries.

Traders there said they shouldalso be consulted on the plansfor the new trading posts asthey will be the most affected.

Alcala assured all stakehold-ers will be reached by the DA,including local officials, so thatany misunderstanding will becleared up. (Sunstar Baguio)

11

The DA family annual sportsfestkicked off November 22, 2010, atthe DA gym, graced by Sec.Proceso Alcala, who delivered aninspirational message and madethe ceremonial toss, commenc-ing the competitions.

Fifteen DA bureaus and agen-cies are competing in sevenevents: volleyball (men andwomen), basketball, badminton,darts, chess, billiards, and prac-tical shooting.

This early, the billiards eventwas concluded, with the DA-OSEC besting the AgriculturalCredit Policy Council (ACPC).

The 13 other competing teamsare: Bureau of Animal Industry(BAI), Bureau of Fisheries andAquatic Resources (BFAR), Live-stock Development Council(LDC), National Irrigation Admin-istration (NIA), National Food

DA family sportsfest kicks off,OSEC tops billiards tourney

Authority (NFA), National MeatInspection Service (NMIS), Na-tional Tobacco Administration(NTA), Quedan and Rural CreditGuarantee Corp. (Quedancor),Phil. Crop Insurance Corporation(PCIC), Nat’l. Agriculture andFishery Council (NAFC), Phil.Center for Postharvest Develop-ment and Mechanization(PhilMech), DA Regions 4-A and4-B.

Basketball and men’s volley-ball events are currently in thesemifinal stage, while the otherevents are still in the eliminationround.

The events will last throughJanuary 2011, and the respectivewinners in each event will beawarded during the DA Employ-ees Association (DAEA) anniver-sary on February 17, 2011.

November-December 2010

12

About 300 crop breeding ex-perts from across the globe, in-cluding the Philippines, recentlymet in Los Banos, Laguna, forthree days to discuss how to re-duce “hidden hunger” or micro-nutrient malnutrition in develop-ing countries, which causes wide-spread illness and death.

The first global conference onbiofortification achieved consen-sus on priorities necessary totake crop breeding to the nextlevel so that it can deliver on itspromise to improve health for theworld’s poor people, said orga-nizer Howarth Bouis.

“Agriculture is the primarysource of essential vitamins andminerals but all too often, it doesnot supply the crucial micronu-trients that poor people need insufficient amounts,” he said.

Lack of vitamin A blinds up to500,000 preschool children ayear and about two-thirds of themdie within months of going blind.

“Zinc deficiency kills more than400,000 children every year and

Crop experts map strategy to reduce‘hidden hunger’

some 1.6 billion people, or aboutone-fourth the world’s population,suffer from anemia,” he said.

Iron deficiency is a leadingcause of anemia, which stuntsgrowth, impairs mental develop-ment, and increases women’srisk of dying during childbirth.Most preschool children andpregnant women in the develop-ing world – and up to 40 percentin developed countries – arethought to be deficient in iron.

Bouis, director of HarvestPlus,a global program dedicated tobreeding more nutritious staplecrops to improve nutrition in de-veloping countries, said that inthe next three years it wasplanned to release high zinc ricevarieties in Bangladesh and highzinc wheat varieties in India.

The International Rice Re-search Institute (IRRI) plans tointroduce genetically modified“golden” rice in the Philippines bythe end of 2012, which containsbeta-carotene.

It is called golden because the

ADB extends $4-M regional grantto Asia’s rice-producing countries

In an effort to ensure food se-curity and address problems inrice production in the region,the Asian Development Bank(ADB) has extended a $4-mil-lion technical assistance grantto eight rice-producing coun-tries in Asia, including the Phil-ippines.

The ADB board of directorsapproved the regional technicalassistance grant for the Stra-tegic Research for SustainableFood and Nutrition Security inAsia.

It aims to examine how coun-tries can tackle rice-yield gaps,water-use problems, frag-mented food-supply chains andunderinvestment in agriculturalresearch.

The ADB said the technicalassistance will be given to theInternational Rice Research In-stitute (IRRI), the InternationalFood Policy Research Institute(Ifpri), and eight participatingcountries.

These include Bangladesh,India, Cambodia, People’s Re-public of China, Lao People’sDemocratic Republic, the Phil-ippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

“The regional initiative willseek to find ways to boost foodproductivity, develop more inte-grated supply chains and raiseawareness about agriculturalresearch and development,”said Ms. Lourdes Adriano, ADBregional and sustainable devel-opment department principalagriculture sector specialist.

ADB said the grant comesfrom its concessional Techni-cal Assistance Special Fund.

The Ifpri and the IRRI will pro-vide additional financing equiva-lent to $60,000 and $100,000,respectively, for a total invest-ment cost of $4.16 million.

The ADB is the executingagency for the project, whichis due for completion in Decem-ber 2012.

The IRRI and the Ifpri willcarry out targeted activities in

areas related to their own ex-pertise.

The bank said the assistancewill help countries tackle riceproduction and agriculture con-straints by exploring ecologi-cally sound methods for reduc-ing rice-pest outbreaks and pre-and postharvest rice losses,which account for up to a quar-ter of the current yield gap.

The assistance will also begiven to assess potential in-vestment, sustainable water-use technologies and food-sup-ply chain partnerships whichpromote nutrition and health.

The ADB added that a thirdelement of the project will beto increase awareness amongfarmers and other stakeholderabout agriculture research anddevelopment action plan forAsia, which will include theirinputs.

“The goal is to come up withenvironmentally-friendly, inno-vative measures--which have ahigh impact on food securityand nutrition, which engagesmall-scale farmers, which arefeasible and cost effective, andwhich can be expanded andreplicated,” Adriano said.

The ADB said Asia is thelargest producer and consumerof the world’s major food com-modities, and is facing hugechallenges feeding its vastpopulation.

However, rapid populationgrowth, stagnating crop produc-tivity, water scarcity and pollu-tion, climate change, and otherconstraints are making it in-creasingly difficult to substan-tially and sustainably improvefood output and security in theregion.

The steep rise in the globalprices of rice and other foodstaples in 2007-2008, whichcaused widespread distressamong poor and vulnerablegroups, has highlighted theneed for action, the bank said.(Business Mirror)

ICRISAT, PAJ Forge Partnership to Promote Dryland Technologies.The Philippine Agricultural Journalists, Inc. (PAJ) and the Interna-tional Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT)forged a memorandum of agreement (MOA) to jointly promote tech-nologies and innovations, particularly on dryland and rainfed agri-culture, and enhance the skills of budding agricultural journalistsand development communication students. The agreement was signedNov. 9, 2010, by ICRISAT director general and former DA actingsecretary William Dar (2nd from left), and PAJ president JenniferNg, (3rd from left) of Business Mirror, who led a PAJ group thatvisited ICRISAT in Patancheru, Andhra Pradesh, India. Also shownare ICRISAT communications director Rex Navarro (left), PAJ vicepresident and DA information director Noel Reyes (right). Witness-ing the MOA signing are (from left) ICRISAT officials HectorHernandez and Prabhakar Reddy, PAJ member Rochelle Campos ofManila Standard Today, PAJ auditor Thelma tolentino, chief infor-mation officer of the Philippine Coconut Authority, and PAJ mem-ber Adora Rodriguez of the DA Information Service.

inserted beta-carotene turns therice grains a golden yellow color.

In a typical serving, golden ricecan supply 10 percent of aperson’s daily requirement of Vi-tamin A.

Biofortified food crops are bred

conventionally to contain en-hanced nutrient traits and there-fore do not carry the negativeperception of food crops geneti-cally modified to enhance yieldand nutrition values, according toBouis. (The Philippine Star)

13November-December 2010

Sec. Alcala (above, center) stresses a point during a meeting of theDA-Mindanao Rural Development Program (MRDP), particularlyon fast tracking infrastructure projects, and giving priority to localgovernment units willing to provide counterpart funds. MRDP isjointly funded by the World Bank (WB). With him are DAUndersecretary for Field Operations Joel Rudinas and Undersecretaryfor Administration and Finance Antonio Fleta. Lower photo shows(from left) are: DA-SPCMAD chief Roy Abaya, DA-Reg. 11 dir. CarlosMendoza, DA-Reg. 13 dir. Reinerio Belarmino, Jr., WB senior officerand mission team leader Joey Virtucio, and WB specialist FabrizioBresciani.

Fish hatchery to rise in Quezon

A simple ‘fiesta’ celebrationcapped the recent culmination ofan agricultural project funded bythe Spanish government, called“Strengthening the Agro-IndustrialSector in Bicol and Caraga” or(SAIS-BC).

The event was participated by32 project implementers and ben-eficiaries, consisting of farmers’cooperatives and rural-based or-ganizations in 30 municipalities

RP-Spain project culminates with a ‘fiesta’

The Department of Agriculturethrough the Bureau of Fisheriesand Aquatic Resources (BFAR)will provide P14.3 million as coun-terpart to operate a multi-speciesfinfish hatchery in Unisan,Quezon, owned by an NGO,UNLAD Quezon Foundation.

When fully operational, thehatchery will produce fingerlingsfor distribution to fishermen andoperators of mariculture parks inQuezon.

Agriculture Secretary ProcesoAlcala said the joint initiativeforms part of the public-privatepartnership scheme of the Aquinoadministration, as UNLAD willprovide P30 million to start up theconstruction of the hatchery.

In particular, UNLAD will allot aone-hectare area for the hatchery,and construct needed fixtures liketanks, reservoir, larval rearingtanks, natural food productionarea, offices and staff houses atthe project site.

For his part, BFAR DirectorMalcolm Sarmiento, Jr. said thescheme is more cost-efficient andpractical for DA-BFAR, as it willcost-share with UNLAD ratherthan establish a multi-million pesofacility by itself.

Sec. Alcala witnessed the sign-ing of the project’s memorandumof agreement by Dir. Sarmiento,BFAR IV-A Director Rosa Macasand UNLAD President Atty.

Vicente Joyas.The project will ensure supply

of high-value finfishes and supportthe existing 5.3-million hectarefishpond lease agreement area inthree mariculture zones inQuezon, particularly in PadreBurgos, Perez and Tagkawayan.

Presently, most fingerlings arecaught from the wild.

Sarmiento said while the DA-BFAR has established fish hatch-eries, these are not enough. Theaquaculture industry still dependslargely on wild and imported seedstocks.

For instance, he said Quezonprovince alone requires 52.9 mil-lion bangus fingerlings yearly.

When operational, the hatcherywill give priority to small fisher-men and fishpond operators, whowill be given a 20-percent dis-count.

Sec. Alcala congratulates Quezon 3rd district Rep. Danny Suarez forthe establishment of a multi-species finfish hatchery--acounterparting project between the DA-Bureau of Fisheries andAquatic Resources (BFAR) and UNLAD Quezon, a non-governmentorganization--in Unisan, Quezon. With them are BFAR Dir. MalcolmSarmiento left) and UNLAD President Atty. Vicente Joyas.

in Bicol.The ‘fiesta’ was highlighted by

a turn-over of project documentsand facilities that included sixhauling trucks, in addtion to thefive trucks earlier procured anddistributed to as many farmers’cooperatives.

The SAIS-BC started in 2008,with the Spanish governmentthrough the Agencia Espanola deCooperacion Internacional orAECI providing a grant of 1 Mil-lion Euro (about P63 Million).

The project--jointly imple-mented by the DA, PhilippineCoconut Authority (PCA), and theFiber Industry Dev’t. Authority(FIDA)--aimed to increase the pro-duction of several major crops inBicol and CARAGA, namely:pineapple, abaca, cassava andcoconut.

The program involved fastertechnology adoption and re-source utilization; value-addingtechnologies and enterprises viathe establishment and provisionof processing facilities; institu-tional development and capabil-ity building; and marketing assis-tance.

The project has five sub-projects:

•Coco coir production and mar-keting in Basud, CamarinesNorte; Ragay and Iriga inCamarines Sur; Sorsogon Cityand Castilla in Sorsogon; Ligaoin Albay and Aroroy and Uson inMasbate;

•Mechanization of fiber extrac-tion and value-adding of abacaproducts in Bato, San Andres,

Gigmoto, Viga, Pandan andBaras in Catanduanes; Gubat inSorsogon; Malinao and Tiwi inAlbay;

•Cassava production and pro-cessing and marketing inCalabanga and Goa, CamarinesSur; Castilla, Sorsogon; andPalanas, Cawayan andCataingan, in Masbate;

•Pineapple leaves decortica-tion and marketing in SanVicente, Labo, Talisay, SanLorenzo, Mercedes, Basud andVinzons, all in Camarines Norte;

•Pineapple fruit processing inBasud, Camarines Norte.

Among the facilities and equip-ment provided by the project are:working shed processing build-ing, fibercraft center, mobilespindle, machines for decorticat-ing, baling machines, looming,sieving and screening, handloom, twinning and braiding tools,water pump, air compressor,hauling trucks (6 wheelers) miniwarehouse and multipurpose dry-ing pavement, granulators, weigh-ing scales, mesh nets and bagcloser.

DA Assistant secretaryEdilberto M. de Luna graced theoccasion, together with VicenteSelles, coordinator general ofAgencia Española deCooperacion InternacionaleDesarollo (AECID) and ZenaidaVillegas, project director of DA-project Development Service, DABicol regional director Jose V.Dayao, FIDA OIC-reg. mgr. EdithLomerio and PCA-OIC reg. mgr.Eduardo Allorde. (Emily B.Bordado)

14

DA proposes P57-B PPP ... (from p1)

ing global demand for food dueto growing population and risingincomes.

“At the core of our food secu-rity blueprint is to realize self-sufficiency in basic staples, no-tably rice. We will strive to elimi-nate over-dependence on importswithin the next three years,” henoted.

With the help of the private sec-tor, he said the DA will do the fol-lowing:

•Build new, and rehabilitate/re-store existing irrigation systemsto increase palay (unmilled rice)productivity;

Sec. Alcala (inset, 2nd from right) suggests some tips to Zamboangadel Norte provincial agriculturist Maybelle Bustaliño (right) onhow to imrpove the production of ‘vermicast,’ during a recent visit ata DA-LGU vermiculture project in Galas, Dipolog City. With themare Zamboanga Del Norte Gov. Rolando Yebes (left) and DA Reg.9Dir. Oscar Parawan. Production of vermicast (mixture of earthwormwastes and bedding materials) is gaining popularity as organic fer-tilizer, which sells for P200 to P250 per 40-kilo bag. A ‘vermin-bed,’one meter by five meters and half a meter deep, can produce 17 to 30bags every two-month cycle. Each bed is stocked with several kilosof earthworms that feed on organic materials like vegetable left-overs, other crop by-products and animal manure.

While in Zamboanga del Norte, Sec. Alcala enjoined farmers toplant more areas to white corn, a major staple in the region, commit-ting to provide them high-yield, quality white corn varieties, andtechnical and marketing assistance, including post harvest facili-ties.

Sec. Alcala admires a six-footlong bunch of cavendish banana,with about 14 hands, at theTADECO booth during theDavao Trade Expo 2010 - 1stPhilippine Global Banana Sum-mit, in Davao City.

Phl to export fruits to SoKorFilipino farmers may soon ex-

port okra, mangosteen, durian,and avocado to South Korea.

Such scenario is in the offing,as a result of a recent bilateralmeeting between Philippine andKorean quarantine officials at theDA-Bureau of Plant Industry(BPI) in Manila.

The DA-BPI group was led byOIC-assistant director Henry T.Carpiso and plant quarantinechief Luben Marasigan.

The Korean delegation was ledby Chang-Yong Park, head ofJungbu Regional Office; SunHyeog Yoon, ass’t. dir. of Inter-national Plant Quarantine Coop-eration Division; Dug-Yong Park,standard inspector for JungbuRegional Office; and Young-GeyLee, standard inspector from Jeju

Regional Office.The meeting was convened on

the request of the DA-BPI for anupdate on market access of Phil-ippine fruits and vegetables (man-gosteen, okra, avocado anddurian) to Korea, and facilitatethe conduct of the Pest RiskAnalysis (PRA).

Similarly, the DA-BPI team in-formed the Koreans on the sta-tus of their request for market ac-cess of Korean fruits and veg-etables like melon, grapes, to-mato, strawberry, broccoli, andbell pepper.

Dir. Carpiso said the risk as-sessment stage of the PRA forKorean bell pepper is already fin-ished, and they are requestingadditional information from Koreato proceed with the drafting of therisk management measures.

•Provide more postharvest andbulk handling service facilities toreduce losses; and

• Establish production centersfor high yielding varieties of riceseeds and other farm inputs suchas organic fertilizer.

Sufficient in others, tooThe next imperative is to attain

food security in other agriculturalcommodities, Sec. Alcala added.

In particular, he said “we haveto make food and feed require-ments available, accessible andaffordable at all times.”

Hence, possible PPP projectsfor other major commodities andsectors include the following:

•For corn – more postharvestand bulk handling service facili-ties, including transshipment cen-ters, and farm mechanizationservices;

•Livestock – more slaughter-houses and meat processingplants, livestock auction andtrading centers; sustained dis-ease control and genetic im-provement to increase carabaoand cattle population, includingsmall ruminants, for meat, milkand dairy products;

•Fruits, vegetables and otherindustrial crops – more produc-tion, postharvest, food supply,and cold chain service facilities,and trading centers with marketservice facilities; and productioncenters for quality seeds andplanting materials of high valuecrops.

•Fisheries – more maricultureparks, seaweed nurseries andhatchery facilities, fish ports, coldchain service facilities and pro-cessing plants; increase produc-tion of bangus, tilapia, shrimps,

seaweeds and other high-valuemarine species, using environ-ment-friendly technologies;

3 food chain, PH facilities•Cold chain systems (such as

cold storages, refrigerated vans,ice plants & makers, chillers/coolers) and service facilities infour major food routes.

These will enable the efficienttransport of food commoditiesfrom key production areas nation-wide to major markets in MetroManila and Cebu. Each set willcost $30M (or P1.35B), or a totalof P5.4B.

•Grains centrals (rice process-ing and trading centers) in 10major seaports, each costingsome $2M (or P90 M), or a totalof P900M; corn bulk handlingsystem and transshipment sta-tions at six major ports, eachcosting $1.1M (or P50M), for to-tal of P300M; and rice produc-tion and postharvest facility ser-vice centers in 49 provinces, eachcosting $400,000 (or P18M), fora total of P882M. These projectssum up to P2.082B.

•Logistics support on agri-fish-ery products supply chain to pro-vide handling service facilities andtransport food commodities tomajor markets in Metro Manila,from major railway terminals Cost-ing $33.3M (or P1.5B), this

project will put up consolidationand trading centers, transport andstorage facilities and other infra-structure along the south rail line,from Southern Luzon and Bicolregions.

Proposed irrigation projects•Kabulan-2 multi-purpose and

power project (MPP), in Isulan,Sultan Kudarat. It will irrigate19,000 hectares of new areas andprovide supplemental water to11,000 hectares under the exist-ing system, in Sultan Kudarat andMaguindanao. Costing $319M (orP14.4B), the project can also pro-duce hydro-electric power andprovide potable water.

•Balog-Balog MPP phase 2,Bulsa River, Tarlac, worth $410M(P18.5B). It will irrigate 22,000hectares of currently rainfed ar-eas and provide supplementalwater to 12,500 hectares underthe first phase of the project. Ar-eas to benefit are those affectedby Mt. Pinatubo. The project canalso generate hydro-electricpower; and

•Jalaur River MPP phase 2,$338M (P15.2B), in Iloilo. It willirrigate 12,000 hectares of newareas and provide supplementalwater to 22,000 under the firstphase of the project. The projectcan also produce hydro-electricpower.

DA chief makes pitch on vermicast,white corn production in Zamboanga

15

DA graft-free so it could imple-ment more agricultural and fish-ery projects for the benefit of mil-lions of farmers and fisherfolknationwide.

The 2011 DA budget, net of au-tomatic appropriations, amountsto P38.05 billion, P10.86 billionless than this year’s budget ofP48.9 billion. The P38-B outlayis broken down into four majorcategories:

•Locally-funded (LFPs) and for-eign-assisted projects (FAPs),worth P21.5B — for irrigation(P12.8B), farm-to-market roads(P2.5B), and other LFPs andFAPs (P6.2B);

•Major commodity and sectoralprograms, P11.37B — rice, corn,crops, livestock, trading posts,agricultural research and nationalinformation network;

•Attached agencies, P4.35B;and

•Attached corps., P796.3M.

DBM Sec. Abad lauds SenateFor his part, Budget and Man-

agement Secretary FlorencioAbad commended the Senate forthe early approval of the proposedReform Budget for 2011.

Senate okays ... (from p1) “We hope our legislators willonce again demonstrate theirsense of duty and exercise ur-gency, so that both House andSenate may be able to approve aharmonized bill by December 14,”he said.

If the schedule is fulfilled by theSenate-House bicameral com-mittee, Sec. Abad said the DBMwould have two weeks to perusethe Congress-approved budget.President Benigno S. Aquino IIIcould then sign it into law byDecember 30, 2010.

If ever, Sec. Abad said it willbe the first time in more than adecade that the General Appro-priations Act would be signed intolaw before the fiscal year starts.The 1999 GAA was signed intolaw by former President JosephEstrada on December 30, 1998.

”It will be a good start for ourcountry if we have a budget thatis not only approved on time, butalso addresses the urgent needsof our people in a timely manner.This is a ray of daylight in theoften-hazy budgeting affair,” henoted.

”We want to keep the sun shin-ing on the budget process notonly for this year, but for the restof President Aquino’s term.

Agri dips by ... (from p1)

November 2010

Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala (left) shares a light momentwith Vietnam Ambassador to the Philippine Nguyen Vu Tu after dis-cussing common initiatives in sustaining production and trade ofvarious agricultural commodities, during the latter’s courtesy call atthe DA central office in Quezon City. As the Philippines embarks ona comprehensive production and marketing program to attain self-sufficiency in rice by 2013, it will count on ASEAN countries likeVietnam as sources of additional rice to fill in the country’s annualrequirement in the next two years.

subsector, as it declined by 7.2%.The late onset of the rainy sea-

son delayed planting of palay(unmilled rice) and corn to Julyand August. Hence, the bulk ofpalay and corn harvests will beaccounted in the 4th quarter.

In terms of value, total agricul-tural production grossed P882.7billion at current prices.

The poultry, livestock and fish-eries subsectors—combining for56% of total output—posted posi-tive growths of 3%, 1% and0.7%, respectively.

Their value of productionamounted to P428.9 billion (B),led by fisheries (P163.6B), livestock (P152.1B), and poultry(P113.2B).

The crops subsector, whichcontributed 44% to total produc-tion, dipped by 7.24%. Its outputwas valued at P453.9B.

Production of palay and corndipped by similar 15% to 9.27million metric tons and 4.73 mil-lion metric tons, respectively.

Total value of palay amountedto P140.6B, and P51.9B for corn.

CA confirms ... (from p1)

At least 15 other Cabinet sec-retary-designates heading vari-ous departments and agencieshave yet to hurdle the CA con-firmation process.

Senator Enrile said the un-confirmed nominees were notbypassed and need not be re-appointed despite the adjourn-ment, as confirmation hearingsbefore the different CA screen-ing commiittees are still ongo-ing.

To date, the CA has heard thenominations of five Cabinet sec-retaries. The confirmation of En-ergy Sec. Jose ReneAlmendras was deferred fornext year, along with 14 otherCabinet members.

The CA is chaired by SenatePresident Juan Ponce Enrile. Ithas 24 members, 12 senatorsand 12 congressmen.

The chair of the CA committee on agriculture and food isRep. Erineo S. Maliksi, of the3rd District of Cavite.

Senator Franklin Drilon saidthe members of the CA shouldgive the unconfirmed Cabinetmembers the benefit of thedoubt, at least in the first yeat

year of President Aquino’sterm.

“Let them prove their worth.They are the President’s re-sponsibility, and running thegovernment is his mandate. Solet’s give him all the support.Let’s see how the Cabinet mem-bers perform,” Sen. Drilonnoted.

Sec. Alcala’s confirmationhearing would have beensmooth had it not been for theopposition of businessmanSelwyn Lao and engineerMarlon Tiñana.

Lao accused Alcala of violat-ing the by-laws of PlantersProducts Inc., an attached cor-poration of the DA, by desig-nating a non-board member aspresident of the company.

However, he was admonishedby CA members for bringing upan issue that should be settledin courts.

Tiñana, an engineer based inLas Vegas, alleged that Alcalaand his family took P2.5 mil-lion from him to purchase aproperty in Lucena. He, too, wasrebuked by legislators.(Tonite,

Business Mirror, The Philippine Star)

“Kaya, kahit patapos pa langang proseso ng pagsasabatas ng2011 budget, pinag-iisipan nanamin ang budget para sa 2012at sa mga susunod pang taon(Even as the 2011 budget’s leg-islation is just about to finish, weare already thinking about thebudget for 2012 and for the suc-ceeding years),” Sec. Abad said.

The DBM is currently finalizinga new budget preparation sched-ule that will allow earlier submis-

sion to Congress next year of theproposed 2012 budget, possiblyright after the President delivershis State of the NationAddress(SONA) in July 2011.

This will also provide sufficienttime for the DBM and other gov-ernment departments and agen-cies to conduct consultationswithcivil society and sectoralgroups, as well as with their re-spective regional offices, Abadsaid. (DA/DBM)

Other major crops, however,registered positive growth, led bytobacco (11.6%), mango (7.6%),banana (1.2%) and abaca (1%).

The poultry subsector grossedP113.2B, contributing 15.5% tototal agricultural output. Produc-tion of chicken grew by 2.8% toP84.3B, and egg, up by 5.9% toP24.8B.

The livestock subsectorgrossed P152.1B, accounting for12.7% of total agricultural output.Production of hogs increased by0.8% to P124.8B, carabao grewby 3.6% to P7.1B, and dairy wasup by 14.6% to P359M.

The fisheries subsector inchedup by 0.7%, with a total value ofP163.6B, accounting for 27.4%of total agricultural output. Aquac-ulture production was up by 1.9%to P59.9B, municipal fisheriesgrew by 0.5% to P58.2B, andcommercial fisheries went downby 1.8%, valued at P45.5B.

Overall, farmers once againenjoyed better prices for theirproducts as average farmgateprices increased by 5.8%.

November-December 2010

The country’s organic farmingmovement will get the neededboost as the Department of Agri-culture is alloting an initial P900million next year to implementvarious initiatives under the “Or-ganic Agriculture Act of 2010” orRepublic Act No. 10068.

Agriculture Secretary ProcesoJ. Alcala said the amount willbankroll four major imperatives,in a speech during the 7th Na-tional Organic Agriculture Con-gress, held November 16, inLucena City, attended by about750 organic farming advocates,farmers, private entrepreneurs,NGOs, and DA and local agricul-ture officials.

The four major concerns includepolicy formulation on organic ag-riculture products regulation andregistration, accreditation, certi-fication and labelling; research,development and extension of ap-propriate sustainable environ-ment and gender-friendly organicagriculture; promotion of the es-tablishment of facilities that pro-duce organic fertilizers, pesti-cides, herbicides and other farminputs, certification process; andimplementation of organic agri-cultural programs, projects andactivities, and provision and de-livery of support services to farm-ers and other stakeholders.

Sec. Alcala authored RA 10068when he served as Representa-tive (2nd District of Quezon) dur-ing the 14th Congress.

Its implementing rules andregulations (IRR) were recentlycompleted and submitted for ap-proval to the Congressional Over-sight Committee on Agriculturaland Fisheries Modernization

OrOrOrOrOrggggganic pranic pranic pranic pranic prooooogggggrrrrram gam gam gam gam gets P900Mets P900Mets P900Mets P900Mets P900M(COCAFM).

As provided under RA 10068,a National Organic AgriculutreBoard (NOAB) will be created toserve as the policy-making bodythat will provide direction andgeneral guidelines for the imple-mentation of the national organicagriculture program.

The NOAB will be attached tothe DA, with the Bureau of Agri-culture and Fisheries ProductStandards (BAFPS) serving asthe secretariat.

During the organic fertilizercongress, Sec. Alcala com-mended Quezon Governor DavidSuarez for taking the initiative increating a provincial technicalcommittee on organic agricul-ture.

Sec. Alcala also conferred aspecial award to 77-year old farm-ing advocate and native ricebreeder Perfecto Vicente ofMASIPAG(Magsasaka atSiyentipiko para sa Pag-unlad ngAgrikultura) for his valuable con-tribution in promoting sustainableagriculture, particularly in breed-ing and propagating native ricevarieties nationwide.

Sec. Alcala (left) and Korean Embassy Minister Yong Ho Kim (2ndfrom left) observe the operation of the $2.2-million seafood process-ing complex in Bonuan Binloc, Dagupan City, Pangasinan, Novem-ber 29. The facility can stock 20 tons of fresh fish and 150 metric tonsof processed fish, and quick-freeze up to four tons of fish daily. Thefacility, which starts full operation in January 2011, will benefitsome 1,400 fishpond and fishpen owners, and employ 465 workers.Also in photo are Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA)resident representative Jinoh Kim (3rd from right), DA-BFAR direc-tor Malcolm Sarmiento, Jr. (3rd from right), Pangasinan 4th districtRepresentative Gina de Venecia (2nd from left), BFAR-National Inte-grated Fisheries Technology Development Center chief WestleyRosario and former Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. (right).

Sec. Alcala (2nd from right) appreciates organic products exhibitedat the 7th National Organic Congress in Lucena, Quezon, November16, 2010. With him are DA Undersecretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyatand Quezon Governor David Suarez.

Nat’l Rice Board formed to ensure rice self-sufficiencyRice industry stakeholders re-

cently formed a National RiceBoard (NRB) to help ensure thatthe country attains rice self-suf-ficiency by 2013.

The board is composed of DAofficials, officers of the regionalagriculture and fishery councils(RAFCs), farmer-leaders, seedgrowers and rice traders.

Agriculture assistant secretaryDennis B. Araullo, who also

heads the national rice and cornprogram, swore in the NRB mem-bers.

Araullo said the creation of theNRB is long overdue, because thecorn sector has long establishedthe National Corn Competitive-ness Board that engages the DAon the corn program directions.

The NRB members includeJaime Tadeo of the National RiceFarmers Council, TrinidadDomingo of PambansangKoalisyon ng Kababaihan saKanayunan, Henry Lim of Na-tional Seed Network, HerculanoCo of PhilCongrains, JessicaReyes-Cantos of Rice Watch andAction Network (R1), JesusaNoveda of the League of DevolvedAgriculture Personnel and a rep-resentative of the RAFC.

“We hope the board will con-tribute to improve transparencyin the DA, especially in its riceprogram as we continue to lagbehind our neighbors while ourown rice farmers struggle to lifttheir families out of poverty,” saidTadeo.

Lim of the Davao Oriental SeedCooperative believes that the con-vergence will bring to fore the realproblems of the stakeholders in-cluding those of the seed indus-

try and raise their level of partici-pation in policy and program for-mulation.

Co expressed willingness to bepart of the NRB in order to pro-mote greater coordination amongstakeholders.

The NRB will review and con-solidate the stakeholders’ strat-egy proposals for rice sufficiencyand serve as a watchdog of theDA rice program implementation.

Ms.Cantos said the NRB willhelp define the right priorities ofDA programs and plug the holesof government funds delivery andmisuse.

Under the Rice Self SufficiencyPlan (RSSP) 2011-2016, the DAestimates that it would needsome P124 billion to bankroll theinitiative. Of the amount, 65 per-cent will go to irrigation projects.

The amount also takes into ac-count government’s counterpartfor foreign-assisted irrigationprojects.

“Rice self sufficiency will beattained by 2013 at the earliestand 2015 at the latest,” accord-ing to the RSSP.

On average, palay productionwill grow by 7.6 percent per year,from 16.2 million metric tons(MMT) in 2010 to 25.3 MMT in2016. (Business Mirror)