Farm department to focus on improving infrastructure, services further in 2011

Business World

THE DEPARTMENT of Agriculture will focus its efforts next year on improving both infrastructure and services to farmers and fisherfolk, a yearend report released to the press on Thursday said.

The infrastructure thrust will involve irrigation, farm-to-market roads and post-harvest facilities, while farm support will involve research and extension services, credit support, information services, production support, as well as policy and planning services.

"These are a good mix of short-term and long-term investments. Production support and credit give the farmers and fishers assistance that immediately impact on [sic] the current cropping or fishing season. On the other hand, research and development and the national irrigation systems may take years before results are felt by the stakeholders," the department said.

The department said that it will focus on the rehabilitation and maintenance of existing irrigation systems, as well as construction of small water impounding systems.

It said that it will also build "more durable" market access infrastructure -- farm-to-market roads, fish ports, and post-harvest facilities and equipment -- in strategic locations that will serve numerous communities.

The department added that support services will be provided in coordination with local governments and state universities.

In order to particularly support the fisheries sub-sector next year, the department said it will maintain and operate 60 mariculture parks and optimize productivity through the promotion of polyculture, which involves culturing more than one species in the same pond.

For the livestock sub-sector, the department will focus on improving genetic materials; improving disease prevention, control and eradication; as well as establishment of meat trading centers complete with slaughterhouses, cutting floors, as well as cold storage and processing/packaging plants.

The department also listed a number of accomplishments for 2010, including:

In support of local rice production, the department distributed high-quality seeds to 1.04 million farmers, 50 units of flatbed dryers and established 1,335 composting facilities nationwide;

For corn production, it distributed 1,621 seeds and 55 tractors, as well as built 12 post-harvest facilities;

For high-value commercial crops production, the department distributed 5.8 million planting materials, 13,169 kilograms of assorted vegetable seeds, 1,578 bags of flower-inducers for mango trees and 8,708 bags of organic fertilizer for the rehabilitation of coffee trees; installed 502 small-scale irrigation systems; as well as conducted 579 technology demonstrations;

For fisheries, the department dispersed 33 million fingerlings; 3,526 fishing gear like nets, hooks and lines and payaos; maintained 46 hatcheries and 50 mariculture parks and zones, five seaweed nurseries; conducted 68 training courses on fishpond construction and management, stock assessment and techniques; and assisted 67 local governments in coastal resource management planning and fisheries ordinance preparation.

Last Nov. 15, Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala said that the department was confident of ending 2010 with at least zero or slight growth.

Agriculture output contracted by 2.62% as of September due to the dry spell that lasted the first half.

The crops sub-sector -- which accounted for 44.36% of total farm output -- declined by 7.24% due to the 14.95% and 15.39% plunges for palay and corn, respectively, the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics reported.

These offset slight gains in the livestock (1.07%), poultry (3.01%) and fisheries (0.69%) sub-sectors.

The agriculture sector grew by just 0.37% in 2009, due to damage caused by tropical storms Ondoy and Pepeng in the fourth quarter of that year. -- KAM