By Manny Pinol
Leading a city which is considered as one of the biggest agricultural producers in the country today, Davao City Mayor Rody Duterte believes that the biggest challenge for the next President of the country is how to produce affordable food for over 110 million Filipinos.
“We have ignored agriculture. We have left the Filipino farmers to survive on their own with very little help from government,” Duterte said citing the current situation where a long drought could affect food production in Mindanao and the government is still discussing ways on how to assist the farmers.
“Until today, farming is still a guessing game for the Filipino farmer. He is not even well-informed as to when the next long dry spell would set in so he could prepare,” said the Mayor of the city where food prices, especially sea products, are considered to be lower than in most part of the country.
Duterte said that more than drugs, criminality, and insurgency, available and affordable food for the Filipino family would be the biggest challenge for the next President of the Philippines.
“Has anybody ever computed whether at the rate our population is growing now, Philippine food production would be able to supply the requirements of 150 million Filipinos 20 years from now?” Duterte asked.
He said the next President must give more focus and funding to agriculture, a program which will not only ensure sufficient food supply for the Filipinos but also provide jobs in the agriculture sector.
Duterte said that the next President should initiate the conduct of an inventory of the total land area in the country which could be used to produce food.
“There must be an inventory of the available land resources in the country and a study on what crops could be grown in the specific areas based on the food requirements of the people,” he said.
The management of water resources have also been neglected by government, he said.
Agriculture experts who have been working with Duterte pointed out that while the country has a very long rainy season resulting in floods, so many rivers and bodies of water, Filipino farmers have been suffering problems from the lack of water.
It was also pointed out that while the State of California in the United States only has less than 10 rains in a year, it is an agriculturally productive state.
“I can’t understand why we are importing chicken, pork, onions and garlic when the Filipino farmers, given technical support and funding assistance by government, could very well produce these food commodities,” Duterte emphasized.
In Davao City today, Duterte has started a project where the different food production areas of the city are mapped based on soil type and fertility, rainfall pattern, elevation and climate.
These data will be in-putted in a website called philfarmguide.net which when fully operational will generate for the farmer all the information he needs, including projected rains and dry spell, by merely typing the name of his locality.
The Davao Philippine Farming Guide project is expected to be a model for Philippine agriculture all over the country which could be replicated in other areas.
Duterte, who is one of the front-runners in the recent survey on Presidential prospects conducted by Pulse Asia which ranked him in a tie for 3rd and 4th place with former President and now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada.
Of all the front-runners – Jejomar Binay, Grace Poe, Joseph Estrada and the presumptive candidate of the ruling party, Mar Roxas, it is only Duterte who has a deep understanding of agriculture and environmental protection.
This is considered to be a great advantage for Duterte should he decide to run for President.
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