The Department of Agriculture (DA) shifts the implementation of the food security program dubbed FIELDS to higher gear this year as part of government efforts to enable Philippine agri-culture and fisheries cope with the twin challenges of climate change and global free trade.
DA Secretary Arthur Yap said, a major item in the DA’s budget for 2010 of P47.29 billion is the FIELDS program, which represents the six areas where government supports are focused on to attain food security and sufficiency.
FIELDS stand for Fertilizers, Irrigation and other rural infrastructure like farm-to-market roads, extension services and farmer’s education, loans, dryers and other postharvest facilities, and seeds and other genetic materials.
The fertilizer com-ponent of the program is advocating balanced fertilization, encourage farmers to practice sustainable agriculture practices by providing them the necessary skills and inputs to produce organic fertilizers in 2010.
"Balanced fertilization will address farmers’ concerns on the high cost of inputs, and trigger production increases," Yap said.
The DA will continue to build-up the capability of the farmer to produce organic fertilizers and other soil ameliorants in 2010. It will provide Minus-One Element Technique (MOET) kits, Leaf Color Charts (LCC) and Soil test kits (STK) to minimize wastage of fertilizer and soil ameliorants.
As for the irrigation and other infrastructure component, some 16,358 hectares of new areas will be irrigated this coming year, 92,255 hectares will be rehabilitated, and 138,529 hectares restored to increase production and meet the demands of a growing population.
The DA will construct 3,107 kilometers of farm-to-market roads to link production areas, fishports and fish landings to markets.
For the Extension, Research and Develop-ment (R&D) and capacity building of FIELDs, the DA will focus on reaching out to farmers in palay production areas with yields below 3.8 metric tons per hectare.
The DA will target 26,441 training/seminars for agricultural technicians, farmers and fisherfolk, including the conduct of Farmers’ Field Schools and School on the Air; establish 19,570 techno demos; produce some 1,225 graduates of e-Extension courses; and conduct 1,358 R&D activities to generate production-enhancing and cost-reducing technologies.
The DA will also give priority to agriculture and fisheries biotechnology to spur increased productivity and income and to develop a global niche market through natural ingredients industry, which in terms of exports is estimated to be valued at US$1 billion by 2010."
For the Loans component, the govern-ment will continue to provide credit assistance at low interest rates to farmers for purchasing farm inputs and other farm machineries. For 2010, DA targets some 305,445 individuals and 99 groups to assist in accessing loans, guarantee, and insurance.
To reduce losses of agricultural commodities, 157 dryers will be con-structed and distributed this year. Four (4) sites of postharvest processing plants and trading centers will be established and 525 trading points or bagsakan centers will be set up as part of the Dryers and other postharvest facilities of FIELDS.
Yap said, in FIELDS component, the DA will construct 10 fishports; build three (3) ice plants and cold storages (IPCS) for fisheries sector development.
The DA will also construct 5 slaughter-houses/abattoirs in strategically located areas of the country. Through the Philippine Dairy Develop-ment Plan for 2008-2030 will operate additional 5 dairy zones to increase the country’s supply of ready-to-drink milk.
To make available safe, nutritious, and affordable high value crops, the DA aims to construct 112 packaging houses, and 37 kilometers of tramline systems to transport commodities from the highlands to the market.
For the seeds component and other genetic materials, the government will ensure access of farmers to quality seeds by (1) empowering them to produce their own seeds, and (2) assisting commercial seed growers through infrastructure support.
"The farmers will be trained on seed selection, proper handling, and processing. Assist seed growers through infra-structure support, like seed laboratories and storage facilities, and improvements in the seed certification procedures," Yap said.
The DA will continue to provide hybrid and certified seeds at subsidized prices for distribution this year.
The DA’s seed subsidy program for 2010 includes the distribution of 1.1 million bags of inbred certified rice seeds; 17.57 million of planting materials; 37,947 heads of various farm animals; and 192.14 million fingerlings, and 2.1 million broodstock.
The swift and stepped-up implementation of FIELDS and other DA programs, Philippine agriculture managed to grow 1.5 percent in the first nine months of 2009, with livestock, poultry and fisheries as the primary growth drivers of the sector. The gross value of agricultural output amounted to P849.3 billion at current prices or 1.62 percent higher than last year’s level during the January-September period.
Under the Fertilizer component of the FIELDS, the DA has distributed 9,377,997 kilogram of organic fertilizers and other soil ameliorants such as Bio-N, Vital-N and Bio-con to help farmers reduce the cost of inputs and increase their productivity; conducted Salt Fertilization Projects, in which 45,271 hectare were fertilized with almost 4.5 million coconut trees benefiting 45,861 farmers; distributed 2,693 soil test kits and 8,023 leaf color charts and Minus-One-Element-Technique (MOET) to help farmers determine the optimum amounts of fertilizer to be used for specific soil types.
On Irrigation and other infrastructures, the DA generated 9,023 hectares of new irrigation areas, rehabilitated and restored 164,534 hectares and 98,055 hectares unserviceable and deteriorated irrigation facilities respectively; completed some 1,841 kilometers of farm to market roads; established 13 Mariculture Parks (7 for launching) in addition to the 15 that were established in 2008, and set up 106 units of tramlines.
On Extension, R&D and capacity building, the DA conducted training and training-related activities to 327,157 farmers and fisherfolks under the DA-Agricultural Training Institute through its 75 series of Training of Palaycheck Trainers (TPTs), 2,790 Farmers Field Schools (08-09 dry and 09 wet seasons), 148 techno demos; 1,091 Regional Trainings; 3,094 Farm and Business Advisory; 206 Field Day/Mass Graduation; school-on-air, e-learning courses and info caravan.
On Loans, a total of P1.203 billion was released to 31,769 farmers/fisherfolks under the various lending facilities. Through the LandBank, around P8.02 billion was released to 257,198 farmer-beneficiaries for palay production.
For the Dryers and other postharvest facilities component, the DA distributed 1,288 units of flat bed dryers in various provinces. An additional 685 flatbed dryers will be distributed.
The DA also established and started operating 11 Corn Post-harvest Processing & Trading Centers; com-pleted the construction of 5 municipal fish ports located in Lingayen, Pangasinan; Quezon, Palawan; Pilar, Capiz; Dimiao, Bohol; and Catarman, Camiguin.
As for Seeds and other genetic materials, the DA, provided certified seeds to 2,959,820 hectares and hybrid seeds to 201,579 hectares in 2009. /MP
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