Passi City, Iloilo – I made a quick trip to the City of Passi today, passing by Liboo, Dingle which is the birthplace of my late father, for another Biyaheng Bukid, the nation-wide journey to reach out to farmers and fisher folks.
It was supposed to last until early afternoon but I had to cut it short to go back to Manila for an urgent meeting with Congressional leaders to finalize the budget of the Agriculture and Fisheries Department.
The face-to-face forum was short but fruitful. In three hours, the major concerns of the farmers were covered.
For the grains farmers, concerns on the lack of machineries and farm equipment were addressed with a recommendation to Mayor Jesry Palmares to consolidate the requests and organize a service provider group which would handle the operation of a fleet of equipment to serve the needs of the farmers.
The rice farmers who own irrigated farms also expressed their intent to participate in the private sector-led seeds and fertilizer loaning program.
Other farmers groups were also assured of access to easy credit with a P10-million funding commitment under the Production Loan Easy Access (PLEA) Program.
Grains farmers were also assured of a grains processing complex so they could handle the milling, packaging and marketing of their produce.
Organic farmers led by former Mayor Ricoy Palmares were also assured of support for the establishment of a tissue culture laboratory and organic fertilizer processing facility.
Livestock farmers will also receive outstanding breeding materials for hogs and a feed mill so they could process and produce their own feeds using locally available materials.
After the 3-hour face-to-face engagement, farmer leaders thanked the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for bringing Biyaheng Bukid to their place which they said was their first-ever opportunity to directly raise their problems and concerns to government which in turn were immediately responded to.
(Photos by Alan Jay Jacalan, DA-AFID)
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