January 17, 2025

Emmanuel "Manny" F. Piñol

Official Website

Farmers’ guide! Digital Color-Coded Map Tells What To Plant Where

Manny Piñol November 23, 2021 2 min read
There is an interactive website hosted by the Department of Agriculture www.farmersguidemap.gov.ph, which guides farmers and agriculture investors what to plant in specific areas of the country based on soil suitability, climate adaptability, risks and hazards.
Officially called the National Color-Coded Agriculture Guide Map (NACCAG), this interactive digital map was launched by President Rodrigo Duterte on March 7, 2017, barely eight months after he assumed the Presidency.
I consider the NACCAG, along with the National Food Consumption Quantification Study (NFCQS) and the introduction of Solar-Powered Irrigation System, as one of the major institutional reforms which was introduced during my three-year stint as Secretary of Agriculture.
The NACCAG was an idea that I and then Mayor Rody Duterte discussed lengthily during the many one-on-one sessions I had with him when we were convincing him to vie for the Presidency.
The last soil survey in the Philippines was conducted 40 years before the NACCAG and during that period, farming was a guessing game for the Filipino farmer.
Yesterday, when I stopped by a portion in the Zamboanga Mountain Range which separates Zamboanga del Sur from Zamboanga del Norte, I saw the stark signs of the unguided farming that we have in the Philippines which results in very low productivity.
I also felt sad that the NACCAG had not been introduced, promoted and updated by the Department of Agriculture as this would have greatly aided our farmers in knowing what crops to plant in their farms.
It is my wish that this agricultural digital innovation would be fully-utilized, not only because the government spent about P40-M for its crafting but because it would greatly help address poverty in the many farming areas of the country.
#GovernanceIsCommonSense!
#KungGustoMaramingParaan!
(This video and drone shots were taken by the media team of the Biyaheng Senado ni Manny Piñol in the boundaries of Mahayag, Zamboanga del Sur and Sergio Osmena, Zamboanga del Norte

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