By Manny Piñol
Halfway through his six-year term, President Rody Duterte has already implemented two major programs considered as “game changers” in Agriculture and Rural Development – Free Irrigation and Easy Access Rural Credit.
Of course, there are so many other programs implemented by government for Agriculture and Fisheries but these two initiatives are considered breakthroughs which could spur greater productivity and reduce rural poverty.
History was made when President Duterte, living up to his campaign promise, declared that government irrigation services should be granted free to farmers.
In addition to that, he has given the “green light” to the proposal of the Department of Agriculture (DA) to target an additional 500,000 hectares to be covered by the Solar-Powered Irrigation System (SPIS) over the next three years.
On Wednesday, an inter-agency group composed of the DA, Department of Finance, Department of Budget and Management, National Economic and Development Authority, National Irrigation Administration and Bureau of Soils and Water Management will prepare the National Irrigation Master Plan for the proposed P44-B SPIS Projects to be funded and implemented by an Israeli Agricultural Company.
Providing irrigation to 500,000-hectares of rain-fed rice farms could result in two to 2.5 harvests a year, instead of just one, for an estimated additional 4-milion to 6-million metric tons of paddy rice produced every year.
The volume is equivalent to 2.6-million to 3.9-million metric tons of milled rice which is well beyond the total national rice supply shortfall of about 1.6-million to 2-million metric tons every year.
Water is a very critical factor in agriculture, the unpredictability of water supply could result in lower yield not only for rice but for other crops as well.
The amount of investments for this project, P44-B, could be considered huge but it pales in comparison to the P130-B which government doles out under the Conditional Cash Transfer Program or 4Ps.
Easy Access Rural Credit which is implemented by the DA under four programs bannered by the highly-successful Production Loan Easy Access (PLEA) is the other game changer implemented by the Duterte Presidency.
With access to credit at low interest rates, farmers and fishermen could finance their activities and increase their production without having to worry about where to source funds for their operations.
A farmer, for example, could increase his rice production by at least 2 metric tons if he applies the correct farm inputs and fertilizer, which could only be possible if he has access to credit.
For 2019, President Duterte has approved a bigger budget of P3.4-B for the Rural Credit Program of the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC), an agency under the DA, a huge increase from the P1.6-B loan facility when it was implemented on June 23, 2017.
What is remarkable with the Rural Credit Program of the Duterte Presidency is the very high repayment rate of 91%, an unprecedented repayment for government-initiated credit program which could be interpreted as an indication of trust of the rural people on government.
In the last poverty incidence survey conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), it reported a huge drop in poverty incidence in 10 provinces, all of which coincidentally are recipients of the Rural Credit Program and another anti-poverty program of the DA which is the Special Area for Agricultural Development (SAAD).
While scientific studies have yet to be conducted to validate the correlation between the Rural Credit and SAAD programs to the reduction of poverty in the 10 provinces, the development is considered by the DA as a pleasant coincidence.
Irrigation and Easy Access Rural Credit could change the Philippine Agricultural landscape and help the country prepare for the adverse effects of Climate Change and the projected rise of poverty level.
With three years to go in his term, the Duterte Presidency has already established a legacy which would long be felt by the poor farmers and fishermen of this country.
(Photos were downloaded from public websites and provided by DA AFID)
More Stories
2nd Harvest Of ‘Saging Tindok!’
American Baseball Coach In North Cotabato!
Cotabato ‘Rice Republic,’ Localized, Autonomous Food Security Strategy!