COLOR-CODED GUIDE MAP
HIGHLIGHTS AGRI REFORMS
By Manny Piñol
On March 7, 2017, seven months after President Rody Duterte assumed the Presidency, he launched in Malacañang the National Color-Coded Agriculture Guide Map which guides the farmer on what to plant in his farm based on soil and climatic suitability.
The NACCAG is a product of brainstormings I had with President Duterte when he was still Mayor of Davao City and I was helping him develop the NPA-influenced Paquibato District in his City.
By simply accessing the website www.farmersguidemap.gov.ph, a farmer, or his children, if he is not computer literate, could check where in his town he could plant corn, banana and others.
This innovation effectively ends the expensive process of trial and error for the Filipino farmers who for so long were not guided on what crop is suitable in their farms.
The farmer could also check where he could find the water table for his irrigation needs and determine the risks and hazards.
In the process of being uploaded is another program which will tell the farmer what soil nutrient is deficient in his area and what kind of fertilizer he needs.
This innovation revolutionizes Philippine Agriculture but unfortunately this would not be reflected on the Quarterly Performance of the Agriculture and Fisheries Sector where some critics of the administration are so focused on.
What are the other innovations in Agriculture implemented by the Duterte Administration over the last two years and six months?
1. National Food Consumption Quantification Study.
This is a study proposed by the DA to the Food and Agriculture Organization, to determine what kind of food do Filipinos eat, how much of it do they consume and how do we produce it in the years to come.
The study, which received a $300,000 funding from FAO, will also project how much of this food could be produced 10, 20, 30 years from now and how and where do we source this.
The Duterte Administration believes in Sustainable Agriculture which includes laying the foundation for an Agriculture and Fisheries Road Map which not only caters for the food needs of the population today but also prepares for the future.
2. Expansion of the coverage area of the Closed Season for Fisheries from Zamboanga Area to other fishing grounds in the country.
People who raised a howl over the importation of fish like Galunggong towards the last few months of every year should realize that the DA Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources closes the country’s major fishing grounds for at least three months each year, mainly from November to February, to allow fish to spawn and reproduce.
This practice was started by the fishermen of Zamboanga Peninsula in 2015 and continued and expanded by the Duterte Administration for Sustainable Fisheries.
Today, the catch after the Closed Season has increased a hundredfold and the big fish like Tuna and Tanguige are coming back.
3. Malinis at Masaganang Karagatan (MMK) is a program which puts up a P30-M top prize for coastal communities with the cleanest coastal area, a declared marine sanctuary, a protected mangrove area and a declared closed fishing season.
The winner of the MMK receives a Presidential Award every year and is presented as a role model on how sustainable fisheries could be achieved through LGU participation.
4. Balik Sigla sa Ilog at Lawa (BASIL) program aims to repopulate the country’s lakes, rivers and streams, including huge dams like Magat, Ipo and Pantabangan, with non-invasive fish species to make fish available to the people.
BASIL involves the rehabilitation of BFAR’s hatcheries and the participation of private hatcheries to supply the fingerlings.
By 2020, BFAR aims to produce as much as 2-billion Bangus fingerlings to reduce its dependence on foreign sources where most fishponds buy as much as 3-billion fingerlings every year.
Also part of the improvement in the fisheries sector is the establishment of ice-making equipment and cold storage in the fishing grounds of the country to check the 40% post-harvest losses.
5. Crafting of the Development Road Map for all prime agricultural commodities to set directions and targets.
The DA, under the Duterte Administration discovered that important agricultural products like Rice, Coconut, Mango, Coffee, Rubber and others did not have a sustainable development plan.
The Road Maps for all prime commodities, except Coconut which is just starting now, have been completed and these would now set clear directions and programs to improve production.
6. Varietal trials for rice to determine adaptability per specific location.
When Vietnam launched its rice production program, the country focused only on rice varieties adaptable in specific areas giving emphasis on high yield.
In the Philippines, rice farmers plant over 50 rice varieties without even checking its adaptability on their areas.
Today, PhilRice, following a series of field adaptability trials, is recommending only five rice varieties for the whole country, identifying which variety is deal for which area.
7. In March 2017, President Duterte launched the prototype of the first DA-funded Solar Powered Irrigation System (SPIS) for rice and other crops.
While it is not a new technology, the DA pushed for the use of the SPIS to cover up for the backlog in irrigation for rice production.
The SPIS is considered as an innovation which could revolutionize Philippine Agriculture but it needs funding support of about P44-B over the next three years to cover 500,000 hectares.
The coverage of 500,000 hectares by Solar Irrigation could end the country’s dependence on rice importation.
8. The Special Area for Agricultural Development (SAAD) is a program which focuses on the poorest provinces of the country and provides additional interventions in livelihood projects.
This is a program I designed when I was Governor of North Cotabato which greatly reduced poverty.
The SAAD, now on its third year, covers 20 provinces and has been identified by the Philippine Statistics Authority as one of the DA programs with great impact on poverty reduction.
9. The Quarterly Budget Utilization Review and other administrative reforms contributed greatly to a very effective delivery of services to farmers and fisherfolks.
Effective utilisation of funds included such simple directives as prohibiting the holding of ordinary workshops and seminars in 5-star hotels and resorts.
Every Quarter, all heads of offices under the DA are asked to report on how much of their Quarterly Budget was utilized.
This resulted in a very high Budget Utilization for the DA with 84% for Cash Disbursement and 96% for Budget Obligation, one of the highest among all departments.
10. The Easy Access Credit Program is perhaps the program with the greatest impact on improving productivity and reducing poverty in the countryside.
Launched in the town of Malimono, Surigao del Norte on June 23, 2017, the Easy Access Program has three components – Production Loan Easy Access (PLEA), the Agriculture and Fisheries Machinery and Equipment (AFME) Loaning and the Survival and Recovery (SURE) Loaning Program.
Given at an interest rate of 6% and 2% per year, the Easy Access Credit Program has ended years of neglect by government on the need of farmers and fishermen to have access to loan funds without the usual hassles and high interest rates from usurers.
With about P1.4-B in loans released since its launching, increased productivity has been validated with a very high repayment rate of 97%.
For 2019, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) increased the allocation for the Easy Access Credit to P3.4-B and with expected allocation of another P1-B under the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) for rice farmers, the program is projected to have a greater impact on productivity in the remaining three years of the Duterte Presidency.
Perhaps, one of the major changes in the Department of Agriculture is the absence of issues of corruption which hounded previous administrations, from the Fertilizer Scam to Garlic Cartels.
There are other reforms implemented in Agriculture over the last two years and six months, like the advocacy to reintroduce Agriculture in elementary and high school, the adjustments to adapt to Climate Change and the national program to establish farm level feed mills, but these would take so much space.
Those who are obsessed with Quarterly Statistics in Agriculture, should be reminded of the seasonality of Agriculture.
“There’s a time for planting, there’s a time to harvest,” a poem says which simply means farmers do not harvest every Quarter.
It would help them understand Agriculture if they realize that it takes only a minute for an illegal fishing method to destroy a bed of Corals but it would take decades before they could regrow.
Coconuts bear fruit in three years, Mango in five years, Lanzones six years and a plantation tree needs 10 years before it could be harvested.
The reason why we are facing so many challenges in Agriculture today is because our leaders in the past were just so focused on what they could eat for the day.
Food Security is not just about today.
It is also about our responsiblity to ensure that there will be food for the next generation and it is called Inter-Generational Responsibility.
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