Jordan, Guimaras (Late Post) – In a spectacle reflecting the thirst of the rural people for government attention and intervention, over 2,000 farmers and fisher folks of this island-province turned up for the first ever face-to-face forum with top officials of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries on Tuesday, Aug. 8.
Guimaras Governor Samuel Gumarin and Congresswoman Maria Lucilla Nava led people from the five towns of the island for the “Biyaheng Bukid Tapatan: Gobyerno Kag Katawhan.”
For a province known all over the world as the home of the sweetest mango, it was surprising that most of the concerns of the farmers were in fisheries, rice farming, vegetables, onion and garlic farming.
Fiberglass fishing boats, fishing gears and farm machineries were distributed to the beneficiaries who were earlier identified and validated.
Crop insurance funds were also released by the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation to farmers whose crops were affected by calamities in the past.
Rice farmers with irrigated farms expressed interest in participating in the Hybridization Program of the Agriculture Department.
A group of farmers also said they wanted to plant onion and garlic and asked that an on-farm training be conducted.
It was a lively interaction between top officials of Agriculture and Fisheries, including Undersecretary Eduardo Gongona, and leaders of farmers and fisher folk interrupted only by a strong downpour towards noontime.
I promised the leaders and people of Guimaras that I will go back to the province on August 23 for the fourth leg of the National Mango Stakeholders Forum.
By then, I would already be able to bring with me some of the commitments made during Tuesday’s Biyaheng Bukid.
(Photos by the Agriculture and Fisheries Information Division of the Department of Agriculture.)
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