Arctic Garden of Eden: RP seeds in Box No. 1 (http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Headlines&p=49&type=2&sec=24&aid=20080227147)

Norway’s “doomsday” seed vault, built to protect millions of food crops from being wiped out in wars or natural disasters, had European leaders thinking biblically.

“This is a frozen Garden of Eden,” European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said at the opening ceremony Tuesday, as guests carried the first seed deposits into the icy vault, deep within an Arctic mountain in the remote Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard.

“It is the Noah’s Ark for securing biological diversity for future generations,” said Norway’s Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg.

Svalbard Global Seed Vault, just 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from the North Pole, is designed to house as many as 4.5 million crop seeds from all over the world, including deposits from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) in Mexico.

It is built to withstand global warning, earthquakes and even nuclear strikes.

It will serve as a backup for the other 1,400 seed banks around the world, in case their deposits are hit by disasters, economic collapse, war or climate change.

For example, war wiped out seed banks in Iraq and Afghanistan, and one in the Philippines was flooded in the wake of a typhoon in 2006.

“This is unique. This is very visionary. It is a precaution for the future,” said 2004 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Wangari Maathai of Kenya. She is a board member of Crop Diversity Trust, which collects the seeds for the Svalbard vault.

The trust was founded by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and Biodiversity International, a Rome-based research group.

“It is very important for Africa to store seeds here because anything can happen to our national seed banks,” Maathai said, bundled up against the cold.

Stoltenberg and Maathai made the first deposit in the vault - a box of rice seeds from IRRI.

IRRI, with headquarters and facilities at campus of the University of the Philippines in Los Baños, Laguna, developed the miracle rice, a hybrid that doubled yields in the 1960s.

The seeds for the global vaults are packed in silvery foil containers - as many as 500 in each sample - and placed on blue and orange metal shelves inside three 10-by-27-meter (32-by-88-foot) storage chambers. Each vault can hold 1.5 million sample packages of all types of crop seeds, from carrots to wheat.

Other guests carried dozens of other boxes through the steel and concrete-lined tunnel leading to the vaults.

The Svalbard facility, built by the Norwegian government for US$9.1 million (euro6.1 million), will operate like a bank box. Norway owns the bank, but the countries depositing seeds own them, and can use them as needed free of charge.

The vault’s daily operations will be overseen by NorGen, a gene bank in an old coal mine on Svalbard that is jointly owned by the Nordic countries.

Svalbard is cold, but giant air conditioning units have chilled the vault further to -18 C (-0.4 F), a temperature at which experts say many seeds could last for 1,000 years.

After the ceremony, Stoltenberg and Barroso flew by helicopter on a three-hour tour of the remote region. They landed on a vast glacier and stopped at the research stations of Ny-Aalesund, some 100 kilometers (60 miles) northwest of Longyearbyen, the main settlement on Svalbard.

Stoltenberg told reporters that he wanted Barroso to see the impact of climate change first hand, in the form of melting ice.

“We see it, and the potential is dramatic, because if ice is starting to melt on land in Greenland and also on Antarctica, then we can see very big increases in sea levels,” he said.

Barroso said such melting glaciers show that “we see the need to act ... to avoid real challenges to balance in the life of our planet.”

Fisheries may grow 8-10% in Q1
By Jennifer A. Ng
The Business Mirror
http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/02282008/economy04.html

THE Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) is confident that it will be able to achieve its target of increasing fisheries production by percent 8 percent to 10 percent for the first quarter of 2008.

In an interview, BFAR Director Malcolm I. Sarmiento said the main growth driver for the sector will be aquaculture.

Sarmiento also said commercial and municipal fishing will also prop up production since its peak season starts in March.

“The target [of the sector] is to produce more than 1 million metric tons per quarter since the goal is to produce more than 5 MMT for the whole of 2008,” said the BFAR chief.

Sarmiento also expressed confidence that despite the La Niña weather phenomenon, the aquaculture sector will continue to contribute to the growth of the sector this year.

“Heavy rains may affect aquaculture, especially if freshwater ponds will overflow. But there are preventive measures, like putting nets to prevent the fish from escaping,” said Sarmiento.

Barring any other severe weather disturbance like severe storms, the BFAR chief said the Philippine fisheries sector could post a growth of 8 percent to 10 percent.

In recent years, the fisheries sector has been the major driver of farm growth. In 2007 the sector propelled the farm production to grow by 4.68 percent.

Last year the fisheries sector posted a production gain of 6.81 percent, lower than its targeted 8-percent to 10-percent growth.

Mariculture technology goes to Caraga

Wednesday, February 27, 2008
The Manila Bulletin

SURIGAO CITY — The regional office here of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) headed by Regional Director Alauya R. Olama, in coordination with the local government units, will launch tomorrow in this city the first mariculture zone in the Caraga Region.

Called "Surigao City Mariculture Zone," the 500-hectare area is facing the Surigao Strait and encompassing the waters of Barangays Day-asan, San Isidro, Capalayan, Cabunbongan, Urok, and Nabago.

Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Arthur Yap, BFAR National Director Malcolm I. Sarmiento, Surigao City Mayor Alfonso R. Casurra, Congressman Guillermo A. Romarate Jr., and Governor Robert S. Barbers, are expected to grace the launching activities.

Director Olama said that the SCMZ is the first mariculture zone in Region 13. The project is one of the DA- BFAR’s undertakings to implement President Arroyo’s hunger-mitigation and job-generation agenda that is intended to alleviate poverty in the countryside.

Assistant Regional Director Nerio G. Casil said that a mariculture zone is an area in coastal waters of from 100 to 400 hectares (or more).

The area is chosen for its diverse productive environment suitable for commercial aquaculture development and access to BFAR training and laboratory facilities, and infrastructure support -- like fishport and ice plants, he said.

Casil said the rationale behind the concept of mariculture is to address the pressing issues of declining productivity in the fisheries sector and the depletion of marine resources, caused by capture fishing, that has led to the displacement of fisherfolk.

This is one of the causes of the persistent poverty in coastal communities.

Dominador G. Mapotol, mariculture coordinator of Caraga Region, said that to be cultured in the declared mariculture zone are high-value species such as grouper (lapu-lapu), lobster, king crab, and prawns, and also milkfish (bangus) and seaweeds farming.

Meanwhile, BFAR Mariculture Specialist Peck Orbeta said that the promotion of fish cage farming, sea ranching and other sustainable aquaculture technologies in the mariculture zone would provide great opportunity and promise for alternative sources of income for the marginalized fishing communities, he said. (JCG)

Source: http://www.mb.com.ph/PROV20080227118054.html#

GMA signs law extending use of
ACEF, assures P2B for Mindanao

By Manuel T. Cayon
Reporter
The Business Mirror

DAVAO CITY—President Arroyo signed into law here Wednesday the Agriculture Competitive Enhancement Fund (ACEF) that extended its utilization up to year 2015 and assured Mindanao that it would get 30 percent of total collections in lump sum.

The signing was witnessed by the more than 300 mayors in Mindanao who gathered at the Grand Regal Hotel here for their first Mindanao Cluster Conference of the League of Municipalities.

President Arroyo signed into law House Bill 2976, or the Act Extending Utilization of the ACEF, and which amended Republic Act 8178, the law on the quantitative import restrictions.

Also witnessing the signing was former agriculture secretary and now Sen. Edgardo Angara, the principal author of the law, and Palawan Rep. Abraham Mitra, a coauthor.

The law on ACEF would require the collection of the tariff on all agriculture imports and said that the collected funds would be plowed directly into the ACEF.

She said that estimates would place the collections to reach P6 billion and promised local government executives in Mindanao “that 30 percent of this P6 billion would be given to Mindanao.”

“That would mean that almost P2 billion would be given to Mindanao in lump sum, being the country’s food basket,” she said.

She added the amount would spur further activities in the agricultural sector and boosts the position of the island as the agribusiness superregion, along with Northern Luzon.

“The amount would go to finance agricultural activities, such as irrigation, farm-to-market roads and other infrastructure,” she said.

She said the government would like to build 2,000 kilometers of roads and four major irrigation projects, one for each quarter, in Mindanao.

She said the ACEF would help alleviate the conditions of farmers, “especially here in Mindanao, where seven of 10 poorest provinces are located.” “Through this ACEF, the benefits and services of the program will now return to the people to improve their daily lives,” she said.

President Arroyo said the ACEF would complement her administration’s effort to strengthen the superregion that she announced in her State of the Nation Address two years ago. She said Mindanao and Northern Luzon, the two agribusiness regions, would be the site of massive infrastructure spending, including the so-called no-frills agricultural airports and piers.

“Infrastructure is very important to ensure that there is food, and this can be done through production and rapid transport to the market,” she said.

President Arroyo also announced earlier this month in Tagum, Davao del Norte, that her government would embark on massive infrastructure spending to cushion the global economic slowdown. She said the spending would start in the first quarter.

Mayor Ramon Abalos of Lambayong, Sultan Kudarat, president of the League of Municipalities in Mindanao, said the mayors were ready to take the challenge of President Arroyo that they should lead their constituents “in ensuring that there is development, especially to our small farmers, so that there will be lasting peace in Mindanao.”

“We are ready to assume that role as we have been doing that as frontliners in economic development,” he said.

Source: http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/02282008/economy01.html

Large sugarcane plantation planned in South Cotabato

The Business World

T’BOLI, SOUTH COTABATO — A group of investors has expressed interest to put up a 20,000-hectare sugarcane plantation in this town, already the host of two large agribusiness companies. Mayor Ernesto Manuel said that Chinese investors and Filipino businessmen from Bacolod City have been in touch with the local government unit for the planned massive sugarcane project for bio-ethanol production.

"We have the lands to accommodate them. Our precondition, however, is that they must put up a bio-ethanol plant in our locality. We won’t allow them to utilize our lands and then bring their produce somewhere else," Mr. Manuel said.

The investors whom the mayor failed to name seemed to be amenable to the arrangement since he said they have already started scouring the area to identify possible plantation sites.

Mr. Manuel said they are waiting for the investors to present their proposal to the Sangguniang Bayan, which is expected to issue a resolution backing the project. T’boli town has more than enough lands for agribusiness ventures even if it already hosts the banana and pineapple companies Upland Banana Corp. and Dole Philippines, Inc., he added.

The mayor said the town has 90,000 hectares and that the combined plantations of Upland Banana and Dolefil have not yet reached 10,000 hectares. He said the entry of a new agribusiness player in the locality will generate more employment for the community and increase tax earnings of the local government unit.

That investors are considerng putting up a sugarcane plantation is in step with the Republic Act 9637 or the Biofuels Act of 2006 signed by President Arroyo into law in January 2007.

Under RA 9637, oil companies are mandated to blend 5% ethanol in gasoline products two years after the signing, or starting in 2009. Four years after the effectivity of the law, the blend will be increased to 10%.

Earlier, Fernando Martinez, Chairman of independent oil company Eastern Petroleum Corp., announced they were planning to put up an ethanol plant in General Santos City, about 100 kilometers from this town by 2010. At a mandatory 5% blend, Mr. Martinez said ethanol demand in the country would run to around 200 million to 300 million liters yearly starting next year and 600 million liters by 2010.

He projected that as many as four to five plants need to be constructed to meet the estimated demand of 300 million liters. He said the project to be carried out by subsidiary Eastern Renewable-Fuels Corp. has the financial backing of Chinese firm Guanxi State Farm.

Guanxi, said Mr. Martinez is a Chinese government-owned corporation "two times bigger than the San Miguel Corp." with nearly a hundred subsidiaries.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo signed the biofuels act as a strategy towards "energy independence" from imported oil, increased economic activity, higher employment in the agriculture sector and to contribute to improving air quality by cutting toxic vehicular emissions. — Romer S. Sarmiento

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Story Location: http://www.bworld.com.ph/BW022808/content.php?id=121

Toxin-free copra studied in Davao City

The Business World

DAVAO CITY — Nongovernmental group Siad in Mindanao Convergence for Asset Reform and Regional Development is looking into developing "white copra" which is free from aflatoxin, a hazardous mold found in ordinary dried coconut meat.

White copra commands a higher price. — BW File Photo Tom Villarin, executive director of Siad, said his group is still discussing with the developer of the drying system.

White copra commands a higher price.

The new technology uses a Kukum dryer developed by the Palawan Center for Appropriate Technology. Each dryer costs about P200,000 to set up. At present, traders buy the ordinary copra for P27 to P28 a kilogram based on data from the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA).

He said the concept that it is being perfected by his group is, like other big companies, to buy the whole nut from the farmers at a premium price for them to be able to get a higher price. He said his organization is perfecting a system that will use all the components of the nut into products like its husk for coconut coir, the ash for fertilizer and the nut for oil and other products.

The coconut shell is usually turned into charcoal but Mr. Villarin said there are other products that can be derived. This concept, he added, will lessen the burden of the farmers who will only have to harvest the nuts and sell them to the cooperative.

"They will not have much difficulty [in producing copra] because they will be selling the entire nut."

The plan, he said, is to set up a drying system in each of the municipalities in the Davao Region with a farmers’ cooperative buying from its members.

At present, a milling company has agreed to allow one of its systems for oil production to be used exclusively for white copra whose impurity-free oil derivative is favored by the export market.

Unlike the oil from ordinary copra which is "bleached" to produce a better oil quality, the white copra oil is free of chemicals. The downside to it, Mr. Villarin joked, is that cases of stolen coconuts might increase.

At present, aside from lower price, farmers only get about 30% of the value of the coconut in producing ordinary copra.

"Many of our farmers do not get much from their farms. Our copra industry is very inefficient," he said, pointing out that the drying system is among the problem as it produces aflatoxin.

This developed as the Davao Oriental government has started studying how it could rehabilitate its copra industry. Governor Corazon Malanyaon told BusinessWorld that her agency has started coordinating with the PCA on how the rehabilitation project should be implemented.

The PCA has unveiled a program which will result in the rehabilitation of 12,000 hectares of old coconut farms in the region by the end of the next two years. Under the plan, the agency will provide incentives to farms who will start growing coconut seedlings on their farms.

The incentives will be provided starting from the initial identification of nuts for seedlings until they are about one year old. The Davao Region has about 300,000 hectares of coconut farms with many of them located in Davao Oriental. — Carmelito Q. Francisco

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Albay planting 15 million
coconut trees till 2010

By Danny O. Calleja
Correspondent

The Business Mirror

LEGAZPI CITY—Despite reeling from the effects of past and recent disasters, Albay province remains steadfast in reclaiming the glory of being one of the country’s leading coconut producers by planting 15 million new coco trees on a 150,000-hectare plantation by 2010.

At present, the province already has 9 million healthy-growing new trees and 2 million more would be planted under the Participatory Coconut Planting Project (PCPP) of the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) within this year, PCA Albay provincial manager Edmundo Bailon said Thursday.

A P44-million fund has been allocated for this year-round planting activities—P37 million coming from the PCA in form of planting materials and compensations to cocoteros (coconut farmer), P5 million from the provincial government, and P2 million from the Italian Cooperation (Cooperacion Italiana), Bailon said.

Last week the PCA turned over 8,000 coco seedlings to participating farmers in the province as the initial part of this year’s planting quota, he said.

The province would need at least P106 million more to plant the next 4 million trees to complete the 15 million target by 2010, he added.

Albay Gov. Joey Salceda has assured that the province would look for funding to realize this goal, with the provincial government taking charge of the project implementation.

With Albay becoming once more a major coconut producer when the 15 million trees start yielding nuts after 2010, Salceda said he is confident that the province’s coco farmers would be able to exploit higher copra prices.

“Moreover, it would attract new investments that could revive the operations of mothballed coco mills in the province and be able to reopen more employment opportunities for the local work force,” he said.

Albay plays host to at least three giant coconut-oil mills whose operations were limited recently due to low supply of copra for the past two years.

The series of supertyphoons that triggered flash floods from Mount Mayon in late 2006 destroyed about 5 million mature coco trees across the province. About half a million more were damaged by floods and landslides due to heavy rains last week.

“Those disasters would not deter us from working harder to reclaim our lost glory of being the top coconut producer in the Bicol region and one of the leading copra suppliers in the country,” Salceda said.

Under the PCPP, each cocotero is paid P20 at once for every nut prepared for germination and additional P5 for each seedling that grows by at least two feet high. After six months, another P5 is given to cocoteros for every surviving tree planted on his farm, Bailon said.

The PCA uses seedlings from a tested local variety that takes only seven to eight years to become productive, he said.

Source: http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/0229&012008/economy03.html

Government pushes off-season
veggie production in idle lands

By Jonathan L. Mayuga
Correspondent

The Business Mirror

PALAUIG, Zambales—The government is stepping up effort to turn idle and what used to be unproductive agricultural lands of this town into a major food producer, with the introduction of off-season vegetable production.

This chief agricultural town was chosen as the pilot area of its off-season vegetable-production project, which is one of the agriculture components of the World Bank-funded 2nd Phase of the Agrarian Reform Communities Development Program (ARCDPII) being implemented by the Department of Agriculture (DAR), as a strategy to increase farmers’ income, especially those in the upland areas.

Through off-season vegetable production, the DAR hopes to turn farmer-beneficiaries into agri-businessmen and women, says Zambales provincial agrarian-reform officer Edilberto Adraneda.

Together with local officials of this town, headed by Mayor Generoso Amog, Adraneda led the Educational Tour and Harvesting of the Vegetable Production Site in South Eastern Palauig ARC and the Techno Demo Farm at the Ramon Magsaysay Technological University (RMTU)-Botolan Campus.

The visit coincided with the graduation of the first batch of off-season vegetable production-training program students. The three-week training program is a joint project of the DAR, RMTU and East West Seed Co. Inc.

A total of 45 agrarian-reform beneficiaries and students of RMTU students were trained to turn idle and unproductive lands during off-season into productive vegetable farms.

Adraneda said idle and unproductive lands during off-season can be more productive for farmers, citing the case of at least 18 agrarian- reform beneficiaries who are now earning an additional P5,000 to P10,000 a week by turning less than 1,500 to 3,000 sq m of their rice farm into vegetable farm.

Noel Landro, who inherited his farm from farmer-beneficiary father Leon, said he is earning twice as much as he is earning from rice farming, turning less than 2,000 sq m of his 6,780 sq m of rice farm into ampalaya farm alone.

“I found vegetable farming very profitable. I’m harvesting two times a week and I’m producing 400 kilos of ampalaya a day. I am selling it only at P35 a kilo,” he said.

Adelberto Baniqued, DAR chief technical advisor for the World Bank-funded ARCDPII, said the program will end in December this year, and they are stepping up effort to sustain the gains of CARP in Zambales by turning the province into a major contributor to Luzon’s food basket.

Source: http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/0229&012008/economy04.html

Farm chief stops shifting of rice farmers to banana

The Business World

DAVAO CITY — The shifting of rice farms to banana growing in the Davao Region has proceeded at such a pace that it prompted Agriculture Secretary Arthur C. Yap to issue a memorandum order last month for the National Irrigation Authority to stop accepting applications for such conversion, Jesus Emmanuel Paras, Agriculture undersecretary for operations, told reporters here over the weekend.

"Effective this year, there will be no more conversions that will be approved in irrigated areas," he said.

Mr. Yap’s memorandum constitutes an apparent turnaround from his statement at the 5th National Grains Postproduction Conference here in July last year, when he said that the department will not "discourage" rice farmers from shifting crops. "That is only a shift of one agricultural product to another agricultural product, so we could not advise them to stop," Mr. Yap had said, adding that the government will ensure productivity of "those who are still in the rice farms."

Rogelio Chio, director of the regional field unit, said the shift to banana has been a "perennial problem" of the agency in the region. "In Davao del Norte province alone, about 15,000 hectares of rice fields have already been converted into banana plantations," he said. "But we can’t just stop these rice farmers [from shifting]."

The Agriculture department’s data for this region shows 43,198 irrigated lands planted to rice and another 6,773 hectares that are "rain-fed."

Banana is still the top export earner of the region, data from the Bureau of Customs and One Stop Export Documentation Center of the Department of Trade and Industry showed. Last year, banana (fresh, puree, and flour) posted $417.7 million, more than half of the total $720.4 million total export earnings for the region in 2007.

Still, Mr. Paras said the shift of crops in the Davao region has not made a dent on national yield, what with 1.5 million of irrigated lands nationwide still planted to rice. "On the macro-level, it’s not that alarming; so, we only need to make it profitable for the rice farmers," he said.

Mr. Paras said that while the department understands the need for farmers to shift due to the potential profitability of bananas, the government must also ensure food security. Presently, he said, the country is 90% self-sufficient in rice, producing nine million metric tons of its 11-million MT annual requirement.

He said the country should not overly rely on imports since its primary sources of foreign rice, particularly Vietnam, Thailand and India, may experience a decline in rice yield due to climate change. "They will ensure their domestic supply first before us," he said.

Conversion of crops was one of the issues discussed during the regional consultation with local chief executives and other stakeholders in Southern and Central Mindanao held in here on Friday last week.

The results of the consultation will be consolidated and included in the agenda of the national food summit called by President Gloria M. Arroyo this April 4 to "spawn [sic] doable action programs" in addressing the effects of climate change, surging food demand — and, consequently, global food prices — by fast-growing regional giants China and India, and the brewing clash in certain countries between the need of crop production for food and the more lucrative biofuel feedstock, Mr. Yap had said. — Joel B. Escovilla

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Production of C. Mindanao high-value crops up in ’07

The Business World

KORONADAL CITY — Five of the six priority high-value crops in Central Mindanao last year registered growth over 2006, regional Department of Agriculture officials have said.

Reynaldo Lumaque, regional coordinator of the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani High-Value Commercial Crop program, said production of banana, mango, rubber, coffee and pineapple surged 0.3%-22% last year from the 2006 output.

Vegetable production, however, was down from 43,081 metric tons (MT) in 2006 to 36,693 MT last year. "This downtrend can be explained by the closure of some asparagus plantations because their contracts with companies have expired and they did not renew them," Mr. Lumaque explained.

But he added that vegetable production for the region this year may increase with a proposed program by which farmers can avail of financial assistance from the Agriculture department at amounts ranging from P3,000-P30,000 per hectare. "If this special program for vegetables will be approved, we are targeting 500 hectares of new vegetable farms," Mr. Lumaque said.

Pineapple, largely cultivated mainly for Dole Philippines, Inc., posted the highest growth at 22% to 791,851 MT in 2007 from 649,301, data from the Agriculture regional office showed.

Rubber came slightly behind at 21%, yielding 157,134 MT last year from 129,995 in 2006.

Central Mindanao’s rubber production was the second largest in the entire country, next to Zamboanga peninsula which posted yields of 175,054 MT last year.

The nation’s rubber production in 2007 stood at 404,070 MT.

Also posting significant growth last year for Central Mindanao was mango, with a production of 51,152 MT last year, up 18% from 43,362 MT in 2006.

Banana production in the region last year was pegged at 934,192 MT, an increase of 12% from 830,822 the previous year.

Coffee posted slight growth of only 0.3% from 27,047 MT in 2006 to 27,123 MT last year, with Mr. Lumaque explaining this was brought about by the aging of coffee plants that need to be replaced.

"Essentially, it was a good year for the region last year. We hope to further increase production volume this year on high value commercial crops," Abusama M. Alid, Agriculture’s regional director, said.

The regional office of the Agriculture department now expects growth of priority high value commercial crops to come in between 4%-12% this year, Mr. Lumaque said.

This year, mango production is projected to grow by 12% to 57,290 MT from 51,152 MT last year; rubber is seen to increase by 11% to 174,419 MT from 157,134 MT; banana by 7.6% to 1.005 million MT from 934,192 MT; pineapple by 6% to 839,362 MT from 791,851 MT; vegetables by 5% to 38,525 MT from 36,693 MT; and coffee by 4% to 28,208 MT from 27,123 MT. — Romer S. Sarmiento

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Farmers told to take advantage of La Niña

The Business World

AGRICULTURE Secretary Arthur C. Yap said in a statement yesterday that his department will encourage farmers to plant rice immediately after the summer harvests, in anticipation of the weather bureau’s forecast of abundant rains lasting until June.

"[W]e might advance the [planting seasons]. Our farmers can plant after harvesting during summer before we go [to] the main wet cropping season," Mr. Yap was quoted as saying.

On Feb. 21, Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration Weather Services Chief Nathaniel A. Cruz said the country will get "above normal" rainfall up to June due to La Niña.

"This PAGASA forecast means there will be adequate water for more than a million hectares of rain fed areas planted to palay," Mr. Yap said.

In effect, this year’s third planting beyond the normal two planting seasons will be made within the dry season, which are the months of November to April. Last year’s third planting was conducted in the wet season.

Wet season planting runs from October to December, while harvests are conducted from March to May.

The third planting program for 2007 managed to raise rice harvests by 350,000 metric tons (MT) and of corn by 200,000 MT more, helping the sector meet production goals despite losses due to a "dry spell" and typhoons.

The Agriculture department had earlier announced that it was "institutionalizing" the third planting season program as a long-term strategy to raise palay yields by at least 20% annually to attain 98% sufficiency by 2010, from the current 89.83%. The department said the program was applied to 100,000 hectares of land in 2007, mostly in Visayas and Mindanao.

Mr. Yap noted that in the fourth quarter of 2007, palay production registered a 10.11% increase attributed to third cropping, and the use of certified seeds in rain-fed lowland and low-yielding irrigated areas.

Mr. Yap said that the Agriculture department is targeting a 6.67% increase in palay harvests this year to a historic of 17.33 million MT. Last year, total palay production reached 16.24 million MT, or 5.96% above the previous year’s level of 15.33 million MT, despite the dry spell.

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MidEast food supplier
seeks new farms in South

By Manuel T. Cayon
Reporter

The Business Mirror

DAVAO CITY—The world’s fourth- largest food distributor has began its search for new farms in Mindanao to ensure its steady supply of banana to the Middle East market, including new areas for pineapple and papaya.

The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao was the preferred site, to allow the Abbar & Zainy group of companies, to perform also its avowed corporate mission to bring jobs and economic improvement to Muslim communities, said Ameerah Rosemarie Sira, general manager of the Abbar & Zainy Tropical Export (Aztropex), the Philippine operation of the Middle East-based group of companies.

“We are hopeful we can have our farms there,” she told the BusinessMirror on Monday.

The search also led the company to South Cotabato and North Cotabato, and she said that soil and product experts have been checking the areas and conducting soil tests.

“We have started looking today, yesterday, last month and hoping we can have them soon,” she said.

The company would need 3,000 hectares this year to allow them to start planting. “This area would already supply us with nine million to 12 million boxes of Cavendish banana annually,” she said.

Aztropex has an annual target to supply the Middle East market with 12 million boxes. This already included the two million boxes from Ecuador, whose many farms have closed or the buyers have avoided due to the high cost of banana.

Since December last year when it began operation here, Aztropex already shipped 1.6 million boxes of banana. Shipment is on a weekly basis. Each box of banana weighs 13.5 kilograms.

“All bananas are organic, both lowland, midland and highland,” she said.

She said the banana industry “is a forever industry, because the Middle East market alone is unlike the other areas like the Far East, which has a lean and peak season.”

“The Middle East market is a consistent market, all year-round. And for as long as there are people in the communities who continue to eat banana, the industry here will be there forever,” she said.

Aside from banana, Aztropex would also devote some of the 3,000 hectares to plant pineapple and papaya, also major tropical fruits for the Middle East. The Aztropex would plant the native reddish-colored papaya than the smaller and round-shaped solo variety.

The Aztropex is one of two partners which formed the banana-buying and marketing company, Unifrutti. Its other partner is an Italian group. She said Aztropex has sought legal approval to start operations as an independent company and go on full-blast operation.

Sira said Aztropex would enter both into joint ventures with small farm owners or buy its own.

She estimated to hire at least 3,000 workers, at a projected ratio of one worker for every hectare of productive farm land. “We want to help Mindanao and improve the lives of its residents, especially the Muslims.”

By sheer size of the group of companies operating here, Sira said she was confident that its operation “would definitely bring that desired impact in the local economy.”

Aside from banana and other fruits, Abbar & Zainy is into poultry and livestock, with two huge poultry and dairy farm complexes in Saudi Arabia. Its food manufacturing and processing plants supply retail outlets, hospitals, hotels and catering to establishments across Saudi Arabia.

In its Wadi Fatimah Farm complex in Makkah, east of Jeddah, its poultry farm alone produces 36,000 eggs per hour and during the yearly Muslim pilgrimage to the country, was regularly producing 500,000 hard-boiled eggs for pilgrims.

“Each of the plants is built and run to the highest standards of hygiene and safety and has a laboratory on site to ensure these standards are maintained,” a company profile said.

Abbar & Zainy’s food operations alone encompass three broad areas—agriculture, manufacturing and processing, and trading. It runs two companies in its agriculture operations, two companies in manufacturing and processing, and seven companies, including the Star Market chain of superstores in Saudi Arabia, in its trading operation.

The Abbar & Zainy is also into confectionary, yeast production and cold-chain operation, owning fleets of refrigerated reefer vans and ships, port management and terminal services, electrical and air-conditioning, travel, ecology and the environment preservation and protection.

A partner in the group of companies is also into petrochemical operation.

Source: http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/03052008/economy02.html

Seafood exporters rack up
P260-M sales in Boston show

By Jennifer A. Ng
Reporter

The Business Mirror

THE Department of Agriculture (DA) disclosed that fish exporters hauled in P260 million ($6.5 million) worth of sales in the International Boston Seafood Show held in the United States last week.

This was revealed by Agriculture Secretary Arthur C. Yap, who is currently in the US to seek more investments in the local farm and fisheries sector.

Yap went to the US last weekend following a trade mission to Dubai, where the DA reported that participants generated P23.8 billion worth of sales and supply contracts.

Local exporters who took part in the International Boston Seafood Show are Bluefin Seafood Export Inc., JNMercado Seafood Supply, Anio Farms, Fisher Farm Inc., Jarla Trading, MS Seafood and F.A.B. Sea Resources Corp.

The export deals cover tuna, octopus, bangus and value-added seafood products like fish ham and sausages, adobo and teriyaki bangus.

The Boston fair is considered the largest seafood exhibition in the US, attracting close to 18,000 buyers across the globe.

During his weeklong trip to Boston, Massachusetts; Washington; San Francisco and Los Angeles, California, Yap will also address a global conference on renewable energy and spearhead a Philippine agricultural investment and trade mission to generate investments in the country’s biofuels industry and high-value commercial crops subsector.

Yap, who was accompanied by a Philippine business delegation during his visit, said that his participation at the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference (Wirec) presents the Philippines with a “valuable opportunity to generate international interest in the country’s biofuels feedstock-development program.”

He is one of the five chosen speakers on Wednesday at the Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development plenary session of the Wirec, which will be attended by over 2,000 representatives of governments, civil-society groups and business sectors from across the globe.

Besides attending the global conference, Yap takes this opportunity to meet with North American business leaders during his visit to Washington, D.C., San Francisco and Los Angeles to witness the finalization of biofuels-project agreements and further secure and promote investment and export deals for the Philippines’ agricultural sector.

He will also hold bilateral talks with his American counterpart, newly confirmed US Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer, to discuss ways of further strengthening the agricultural and trade cooperation pact between Manila and Washington.

In Washington Yap will hold dialogues with the US-Asean Business Council; representatives of leading US firms like Cargill, YUM Brands and Citibank; World Cacao Foundation; and officials of biofuel giants such as Abengoa Bionergy, FE Clean Energy and GREEN Corp.

He will also hold one-on-one talk with US House of Representatives’ Bob Filner of California to discuss issues affecting the Philippine agriculture sector.

In San Francisco Yap will present trade and investment opportunities in Philippine agriculture to a business delegation convened by the Cal-Asia Business Council. He will also meet with officials of biofuel companies such as Abundant Biofuels Corp. and Green Energy Technology Inc.

In Los Angeles Yap will meet more business groups. These include Golden Valley Seed, who has expressed interest in putting up high-value seed production and distribution operations in the Philippines and three biofuel companies, namely, RSEI Ecodynamics, TART Llc. and Bluefire Ethanol.

Philippine Natural Products Exporters accompanying Yap in the Los Angeles leg of this mission will also be meeting up with importers and showcasing their products as a prelude to the Natural Products Expo West to be held in Anaheim from March 14 to 16.

Source: http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/03052008/economy01.html

US, Japan still top markets for agriculture exports

Philippine Daily Inquirer

Posted date: March 07, 2008

MANILA, Philippines -- The United States and Japan remained as the top markets for Philippine agricultural products, cornering $990.7 million, or a fifth of total exports, from January to November last year, the Department of Agriculture said.

For the 11 months, total Philippine agriculture exports reached $3.63 billion at 8.4 million metric tons, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said in a statement.

Among the top export commodities were coconut products, tropical fruits and tuna.

The top 10 commodities represented some 53 percent or $1.9 billion of total export earnings during the period.

Agriculture Undersecretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said sales to the United States reached $604.4 million in the 11 months.

Japan followed with $386.3 million, the Netherlands $230.4 million, South Korea $168.4 million, and Thailand $96.08 million, he said.

Coconut oil was the country’s top export at $626.4 million, followed by fresh bananas at $363 million, pineapple and pineapple products at $223.9 million, tuna at $182 million, and desiccated coconut at $146.6 million.

Others at the top of the list were processed tropical fruits at $134.4 million, seaweeds and carageenan at $82.7 million, sugar at $77 million, prawns and shrimps at $66.1 million, and copra oil cake at $37.6 million.

Last year an export development team headed by Romulo-Puyat booked $749 million in sales and orders for Philippine fresh and processed food items in trade shows and missions in the United Arab Emirates, Australia, Belgium, Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, South Korea, Japan, Germany, Thailand, United States, Canada, New Zealand and Russia. Amy R. Remo; edited by INQUIRER.net

Source: http://business.inquirer.net/money/topstories/view/20080307-123267/US-Japan-still-top-markets-for-agriculture-exports

P26.5B available for farm loans this year

DAVAO CITY — About P26.5 billion in state funds will be made available this year for qualified farm and fisheries ventures, Agriculture Undersecretary Jesus Emmanuel M. Paras said here yesterday.

Of the total amount, the Agricultural Credit Policy Council accounts for some P843 million, followed by the Land Bank of the Philippines with P20 billion, Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) with P1.2 billion and the Allied Bank with P1 billion.

Conduits

Mr. Paras said the funds will be coursed through agricultural lending conduits like rural and thrift banks, nongovernment organizations and cooperatives, for lending to end-beneficiaries.

A parallel project of the Department of Trade and Industry, the One Town-One Product program, has P2 billion that could be directly availed by the farmers and fisherfolk, farm workers and women in these communities.

Besides these funds, Mr. Paras added that cooperatives and rural banks will be able to offer P1.5 billion to small landowners and landless workers in the agrifishery sector.

"The funds are available for lending, but we need the help of the private sector for innovative funding schemes so the money will go where it is most needed," Mr. Paras said during a briefing held in a hotel here.

Issues

He said the funds should help the agriculture sector address issues like land tenure, agriculture insurance, rural credit, as well as technology development and dissemination.

"Our major challenge is to address agriculture’s growth beyond modest rates and into a sustained peace of at least a yearly average of about 4%-5.2% for the next three years [compared to 4.68% last year and 3.88% in 2006]," he said.

To do this, the Agriculture department will focus on improving post-harvest facilities, technology and extension, market access, credit facilitation and irrigation.

The target irrigable area for this year is about 3.126 million hectares, Mr. Paras said.

Increased focus

Finance Secretary Margarito B. Teves said farmers and fishermen should take advantage of the Land Bank and DBP, as both banks strengthen their focus on lending to the agriculture sector. "In 2000, Land Bank was really into commercial lending; but now, lending leans towards farmers and fisherfolk," Mr. Teves said.

Sofronio M. Jucutan, former trustee of the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc., said the Agriculture department should come up with a system to minimize water wastage in irrigated lands. "Maybe we could try piped-in irrigated system, where if the farmer needs 10,000 gallons we can pump in 10,000 gallons and he pays for that," Mr. Jucutan said.

Not enough

He said government should focus on post-harvest and storage facilities to help farmers cut down on losses. "Even NFA [National Food Authority] warehouses are sparsely located [sic]; we can hardly see them near rice fields," he said.

Mr. Paras also said government should find ways to dissuade rice and corn farmers from using their fields to grow high-value crops like bananas. In the Davao Region alone, Regional Director Rogelio C. Chio said, about 15,000 hectares of rice fields have already been converted into banana plantations. Davao Region has 43,198 irrigated lands planted to rice and another 6,773 hectares that are rain-fed. — Joel B. Escovilla

Source: Businessworldonline

P12.3-billion agriculture deals signed in Dubai trade mission

THE AGRICULTURE department said yesterday a total of P12.3 billion worth of sales and supply contracts for Philippine agricultural and processed food products were signed during the trade mission to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last Feb. 27-29 that was headed by Agriculture Secretary Arthur C. Yap.

Among others, the $299.92-million deals involved banana and pineapple for the Fresh Fruits Company, Del Monte Foods Middle East, Samico, Abbar Zainy Trading, Unifrutti and Saad Tabra Trading, a department statement read.

The largest deal came from Dubai-based Fresh Fruits, which ordered $117 million and $3 million worth of bananas and pineapples, respectively. Del Monte placed an order for 15 million cases of Cavendish bananas worth $76.5 million, and 2 million cases of pineapple for $12 million; Abbar Zainy for bananas at $54 million and pineapples, $3 million; Samico for bananas at $22.5 million, as well as Unifrutti and Saad Tabra for $11.92 million worth of pineapples.

Fresh Fruits also signed a P2 billion-deal with the Philippine Agricultural Development and Commercial Corporation to develop 3,000 hectares of land in Mindanao for the planting of bananas and pineapples.

Mr. Yap invited UAE Minister of Environment and Water Rashid Ahmed Bin-Fahad, to come to Manila in May to sign a new memorandum of agreement on agriculture and fisheries cooperation with the UAE.

Philippine exporters were earlier able to book $5 million worth of orders during the 13th Gulf Food, Hotel and Equipment Exhibition at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Center last Feb. 24-27.

Philippine exports to the UAE rose $46.25 million, or 39.2%, to $164.21 million in 2006 from $117.96 million in 2005. Major exports consist of garments, fresh bananas, processed food, semiconductors, other industrial manufactures, cement/cement products, transport equipment, and cosmetics and personal care products.

Bilateral trade rose 56% to $520.27 million in 2006 from $333.1 million in 2005. — E. B. Dorente/Businessworldonline

RP agri traders turning to New Zealand
from restrictive Aussie market
By Estrella Torres
Reporter


THE long delays in the Australian decision to completely lift the ban on Philippine tropical fruits have slowly strained trade relations between the two countries and affected private-sector decision to explore New Zealand market that offers better terms to similar products also found in Canberra, said a senior trade diplomat.

The Australian government has imposed a ban on Philippine mangoes, pineapples and bananas in its market for almost 10 years now. So far, mangoes from Guimaras have been allowed access into the Australian market early last year, but pineapples and bananas are still banned.

The senior trade diplomat said the government has not resorted to dispute settlement measures with the World Trade Organization (WTO) on two grounds: First, there are no sanctions to be imposed against Australia for its continued imposition of the sanitary and phytosanitary measures known as one of the nontariff barriers; second, the lost revenues for the Philippine tropical fruits will no longer be returned to the exporters.

“Australia will only be compelled [by the WTO] to effect trade policies by allowing access to Philippine tropical fruits,” said the senior trade diplomat who requested anonymity.

But he said there are measures where the Philippines can “get even” and would simply hurt the Australian products getting access into the country’s market.

At the same time, Australian ambassador to the Philippines Tony Hely maintained that his government is committed to welcoming Philippine tropical fruits into the Canberra market as soon as the pests and other disease issues on these products have been addressed.

He said the Australian Embassy has funded two pest survey studies on Davao del Sur and Saranggani with amount of A$250,000 and A$100,000, respectively, to determine whether these provinces can resume export of mangoes into Australia.

Hely said there is also an ongoing import-risk assessment on Philippine bananas that would evaluate the measures taken by the Philippine exporters to address the SPS issues of Australia.

“A draft of the risk-assessment report has been submitted to the Philippine officials for comment. After that, the report would be submitted to the Australian agriculture officials for final decision. We expect to have the final report this year or next year,” said Hely in an interview in Makati City.

Meanwhile, pineapple products from the Philippines are now being allowed access into the Australian market if quarantine solutions like decrowning and fumigation are implemented.

The diplomat cited that the Philippines that used to heavily import beef and dairy products from Australia is slowly exploring the New Zealand market.

“Although the decision to import beef and dairy products from New Zealand is market-driven, the good political and trade relations between the Philippines and New Zealand have influenced private-sector decisions,” he said.

The Filipino diplomat said that New Zealand has also been providing better terms, discounts and efficient delivery of exports to the Philippines compared with Australia.

He said that the Philippine industries have also opted to import beef products from New Zealand because Australia for some time has suffered long delays due to reduction of beef products for exports.

Source: http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/06132007/economy02.html

Guimaras milkfish project
PHILIPPINES - Milkfish Culture and Harvest is the hot topic for the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center Aquaculture Department end of season Training Course.

The pilot project, which started in October, will end with Guimaras fish producers at the SEAFDEC/AQD Igang Marine Station in Nueva Valencia.

The course will end with a harvest and distribution of certificates to trainees from the four barangay beneficiaries of Nueva Valencia. Nicasio Alcantara, Petron chairman and CEO; Malu Erni, executive director of Petron Foundation Inc.; Sanjiv Vohra, Citi country officer; Guimaras Governor Felipe Nava; Nueva Valencia Mayor Alex Araneta; and AQD chief Joebert D. Toledo will attend the closing ceremony.

In July 2007, the Petron Foundation Inc. and SEAFDEC/AQD signed an agreement on a pilot project on milkfish cage culture as a livelihood program for fisherfolk affected by an oilspill in the area. The project was a collaboration also with Citi Foundation/Citi Philippines and the Province of Guimaras www.thefishsite.com

SEAFDEC, BFAR holds training on tagging of small pelagic fishes

The Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC) and the National Fisheries Research and Development Institute (NFRDI) of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources have just concluded the training on tagging of small pelagic fishes on board M/V DA-BFAR and at the National Marine Fisheries Development Center in Navotas City last December 10-11, this year.

The training was conducted in collaboration with SEAFDEC’s Marine Fisheries Resource Development and Management Department (Malaysia) represented by its deputy chief Dr. Osamu Abe and the Training Department (Thailand) represented by Dr. Somboon Siriraksophon. Also present as trainer is senior researcher Raja Bidin Raja Hassan.

The said training enabled the participants composed mostly of fishery technologists and fisherfolk to develop techniques in tagging small pelagic fishes and gain better understanding on how to disseminate the tagging project among the stakeholders to ensure high recapture rate of the tagged species. The training also allows the stakeholders to appreciate better the principles and the benefits of the project.

BFAR Director Malcolm I. Sarmiento, Jr. said that SEAFDEC has been an active partner in the development of the country’s fisheries resource towards sustainability. Together with 10 other member-countries, the Philippines has been promoting the adoption of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries in Southeast Asia, he said.

The tagging of fish involves the insertion of special number-coded yellow tags at the base of the dorsal fins of individual fishes. The fishes are released back into the sea and their tags will hopefully be returned to the nearest fishery agency by the fishermen who catch them.

SEAFDEC-MFDRMD Deputy Chief Dr. Osamu Abe explained that the tagging will enable the researchers to determine the migratory path of these species which would eventually lead to the development of a sound regional management plan for small pelagic fisheries in the region; the goal of which is to ensure the sustainability of the said fishery resource.

Beginning July next year, the Philippines together with Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Kingdom of Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia (Peninsula, Sabah and Sarawak), and Vietnam as well as Myanmar will commence the collaborative research on the Tagging of Commercially Important Pelagic Fisheries in the South China Sea. Researchers of the said countries will simultaneous tag five (5) commercially-important species of round scads and mackerel in the South China and Andamar Seas, respectively.

A total of 2,400 pieces of fish belonging to two species of round scad and one species of mackerel will be tagged in the waters of Manila Bay and Palawan in the country.

NFRDI Interim Executive Director Westly Rosario said that equally important to knowing the basic skills of tagging is the cooperation of the stakeholders in retrieving and/or returning back the tags to the BFAR and/or to other fisheries agency of each participating country in order to achieve good results.

Rosario said that a mechanism to ensure awareness and proper information dissemination must be in place as the tagging will be undertaken for three consecutive years beginning next year.

Small pelagic fishery represents an important resource in many regions of the world. In the Philippines, small pelagics such as galunggong, tunsoy, tawiles,hasa-hasa, matangbaka and the like constitute about 50% of the total marine fish catch.

Studies however show that the small pelagic fishery in the Southeast Asian Region including the Philippines and other countries bordering the South China Sea have been subjected to high levels of exploitation, hence, the need to come up with a management plan for small pelagics.

The said training which was already conducted in six of eight participating countries is an offshoot of a regional study of the SEAFDEC entitled Information Collection for Sustainable Pelagic Fisheries in the South China Sea to determine the relationship of small pelagic stocks in Southeast Asian countries including its biology and population.

SEAFDEC is an intergovernmental organization tasked to promote sustainable fisheries development in Southeast Asia with eleven member countries: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

www.bfar.da.gov.ph/news

Fish from Laguna de Bay is Safe - BFAR
The Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources assures the public that freshwater fishes such as dalag, bangus, tilapia, ayungin, big-head and common carp caught or farmed in the waters of Laguna de Bay are safe for human consumption.

In a report to Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, BFAR said that the study on the presence of heavy metals in fish and water samples collected in different stations along the lake revealed that these are all within the standard limits set by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and therefore are safe for human consumption.

The study was conducted in response to the concerns raised by some sectors on the possible presence of high levels of heavy metals such as lead, mercury and cadmium in fish due to the alleged worsening condition of the lake.

Results of the studies, however, showed that mercury in the fish samples are way below the standard allowable limit of 0.5ppm prescribed in the FAO Circular No. 825, Food Regulations Standard Applied to Fish. Laboratory tests showed that the amount of mercury in the 28 fish samples taken ranged only from 0.00015 parts per million (ppm) to 0.0011ppm

Likewise, the levels of lead and cadmium are also below the tolerable limits of 0.3ppm (Codex Alimentarius Commission) and 0.5ppm (FA0 Circular No. 210), respectively.

On the other hand, water samples taken from the surface, middle and bottom portions of the lake showed mercury content ranging from less than the detection limit of 0.01ppb to 0.0004ppm which does not exceed the limit of 0.002 ppm set by the DENR in its Administrative Order No. 34, series of 1990.

According to the said guidelines and base on the findings of the BFAR laboratory, the lake’s water could still be considered as suitable for the propagation and growth of fish and other aquatic products.

Water and fish testings in the lake were conducted by the BFAR last October 18, 24 and 25, 2007 and in January 3, February 1 and 7, this year. Sampling sites include Siniloan, Pakil, Paete and Los Baños in Laguna and Binangonan, Cardona and Tanay in Rizal. The fish samples include tilapia, milkfish, dalag, ayungin, kanduli, bighead and common carp caught from open water and in fish pens and cages in Laguna de Bay.

The collections and testings were undertaken by a BFAR team from Region 4A and the central office led by BFAR Fisheries Product Testing Laboratory chief Belinda Raymundo.

Laguna de Bay is the largest freshwater lake in the Philippines with a total surface area of 900 sq. km. The lake's most dominant use is fisheries yielding from 37,000 to 47,000 MT (metric tons) of fish in 1997 - 2000 from fishpens and open fisheries www.bfar.da.gov.ph

National sweet sorghum confab slated in Batac on March 12-14


BATAC CITY, Ilocos Norte — The first national conference on sweet sorghum research, development, extension (RDE) will be held here on March 12 to 14.

Conference venue is the Philippine Rice Research Intitute branch in Batac, within the complex of the Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU), a multi-campus tertiary institution whose seat of administration is the main campus in this new city.

Theme of the conference is "Synergizing linkages for a commercially viable bioethanal industry in the Philippines."

Sponsors are the Bureau of Agricultural Research of the Department of Agriculture, Commission on Higher Education (CHED), Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD) of the Department of Science and Technology, the India-based International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), and MMSU.

About 100 researchers, farmers, policymakers, private sector representatives, members of the academe and industry, and other stakeholders are expected to attend the meeting.

The activity aims to summarize current RDE on sweet sorghum in the country for better understanding of its needs and prospects as a crop for biofuels, food, feed, and forage.

It will identify research priorities in designing and evaluating integrated food and energy production systems. Moreover, it will organize the manpower requirements and infrastructure and laboratory needs of a biofuel RDE in support of the industry.

Aside from the plan to set up a sweet sorghum R&D center, the conference’s expected outputs are reviewed R&D projects on the crop; probable funding sources for its R&D and technology promotion; and linkages in the government and nongovernment sectors in the production of bioethanol using sweet sorghum as a feedstock.

It may be recalled that research in sweet sorghum was started a few years back, starting at the MMSU where Dr. Heraldo Layaoen was the head of the sweet sorghum research and devleopment program.

Several sweet sorghum varieties have been introduced from India and which have been observed to be highly adaptable not only in the Ilocos but also in other places such as Bicol, Mindanao and parts of the Visayas.

Sweet sorghum is a drought resistant crop that thrives well in Ilocos. It could as well become an alternative crop to tobacco which is an industry that is not being actively promoted because of the policy of discouraging cigarette smoking. www.mb.com.ph

GMA: Sustain RP agri exports to Dubai
PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has directed the Department of Agriculture to sustain the booming export of Philippine agriculture and fish products to Dubai and the revival of a cooperation pact on agriculture and fisheries between the two countries.

“The P12.3 billion worth of sales and supply contracts with Dubai for our agricultural and processed products recently sealed by our trade mission augurs well for a mutually beneficial economic partnership with Dubai particularly in the agriculture sector,” Arroyo said.

President Arroyo noted that in 2006, bilateral trade between the Philippines and the UAE stood at $520.27 million, an increase of 56% over the 2005 trade figure of $333.1 million. Philippine exports to the UAE increased by $46.25 million or 39.8% from $117.96 million in 2005 to $164.21 million in 2006.

The Philippines’ major exports to the UAE include garments, fresh bananas, processed foods, semiconductors, other industrial manufactures, cement/cement products, transport equipment, and cosmetics and personal care products.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said the orders placed by firms like Fresh Fruits Company, Del Monte Foods Middle East, Samico and Abbar Zainy Trading would haul in P12.3 billion worth of sales for Filipino exporters of fresh and processed food products.

Fresh Fruits placed an order of 26 million cases for fresh bananas worth $117 million and 500,000 cases of fresh pineapples worth $3 million.

Del Monte Foods Middle East placed an order for 15 million cases of fresh Cavendish bananas worth $76.5 million, while its order for fresh pineapples was two million cases worth $12 million.

Five million cases of fresh bananas valued at $54 million and 500,000 cases of fresh pineapples worth $3 million were ordered by the Abbar Zainy Corp.

Another importer, Samico, ordered five million cases of fresh bananas worth $22.5 million while Unifrutti and Saad Tabra Trading placed respective orders for 1.15 million and 1.5 million cases of bananas with a combined value of $11.92 million.

During the trade mission from February 27 to 29 in Dubai, Yap witnessed the signing of an agreement between UAE-based Fresh Fruits Company, one of the top trading firms in the Middle East, and the DA, through the Philippine Agricultural Development and Commercial Corporation (PADCC). www.journal.com.ph

’Pinas nauubusan na ng isda
NABABAHALA ang Bureau of Fisheries and Aqua-tic Resources (BFAR) na posibleng mapasama ang Pilipinas sa listahan ng mga nauubusan ng mga nahuhuling isda sa karagatan dahil sa patuloy na operasyon ng overfishing.

Ito ay matapos na matuklasan sa isinagawang pag-aaral ng BFAR na walang habas na paraan ng pangingisda sa mga karagatan kaya’t kadalasan maging ang mga maliliit na isda ay hinuhuli ng mga mangingisda.

Sinasabing isang malawakang problema sa daigdig ang overfishing kaya’t
dapat na itong aksyunan ng bansa bago pa mahuli ang lahat.

Ayon kay BFAR Dir. Malcolm Sarmiento, para maiwasan na huwag manghuli at kumain ng maliliit na isda na ngayon ay siyang kalimitang nabibili sa mga palengke ay ipinapayo ng INCOFISH project na na-kabase sa WorldFish Center, Los Baños, Laguna, ang paggamit ng “Panukat Isda” na pinondohan ng Europen Union.

Isa umano itong simpleng kasangkapan na maaaring gamitin ng mga mangingisda upang masukat kung ang kanilang huli ay naaayon sa laki ng isdang napapanahon nang hulihin.

Malaki umano ang maitutulong ng Panukat Isda sa pagsusulong ng pangangasiwa sa pangisdaan kung saan nasisiguro umanong mas marami at malalaking huli sa susu-nod na pamamalakaya, sa kadahilanan ding naiiwasan ang panghuhuli ng mga maliliit at batang isda http://www.journal.com.ph/index.php?issue=2008-03-13&sec=4&aid=52484

Fishers to establish seafood restaurant,
turning area into ecotourism location

By Jonathan Mayuga
Correspondent

KABASALAN, Zamboanga Sibugay—A small group of municipal fishermen-turned-fish-cage operators in this town are going big time with their innovative livelihood projects, transforming their community into an ecotourism destination with the support of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).

Members of the Kalugpungan sa Gagmay Mangingisda sa Concepcion (KGMC) are planning to put up a seafood restaurant soon to promote their barangay as an eco-tourism destination. Besides creating additional employment, the initiative will also empower people in the community.

Roberto A. Ballon, KGMC chairman, said the restaurant will serve cultured grouper fish, oyster or talaba and freshwater crabs.

KGMC, or the Small Fisherfolks Association of Concepcion, is composed of 251 agrarian-reform beneficiaries belonging to the Greenfields agrarian reform community.

Through the help of the DAR-Western Mindanao Community Initiative Project (WMCIP), KGMC’s 251 members who used to be municipal fishermen made a complete turnaround, as they started to culture talaba, catch alimango, then later, invest in “high-end” fish-cage operation—culturing maya-maya and various species of grouper fish, legally.

“Before, we earned less than P100 a day. Our fishing methods were even illegal, considering we used nets that catch even the small fishes. We know it is illegal, but we have no choice. Through the DAR-WMCIP, we changed. Now, we are fish-cage operators,” he said.

The fishing method, locally called sudsod, is destructive since it kills seagrass and the fishes’ natural habitat in the coastal areas.

Now, Ballon, who owns 12 floating fish cages, with his P50,000 investment now earns P8,000 to P10,000 net, on top of other sources of income such as culturing talaba and catching alimango.

Ballon boasts of receiving two national awards, including a Presidential Award for sharing his talaba culture technology to others. While others who culture talaba use bamboo pole as tulos, or rope that they hang underneath to allow talaba to grow, Ballon simply scatters them in the mud.

The talaba grow bigger and even taste better and juicier.

“I just tried it. To my surprise, it worked. So why need to invest to put up structures to culture them when they grow in the mud?” he said.

KGMC members have rights to a 17-hectare land situated in the coasts in barangay Concepcion.

In 2001, DAR, through the WMCIP, a United Nations-funded project under its International Fund for Agricultural Development Program, convinced them to help manage the marine coastal resources and start their own livelihood project, encouraging them to try fish-cage operation.

The group has undergone various seminars to strengthen their capacities, until members are confident enough to start their own livelihood projects. Recognizing the big demand for grouper fish, they agreed to culture the fish variety.

Ballon also organized KGMC, which now has more than two hundred members.

“From 10 members, we now have 251 members. We are doing good business,” he said.

DAR-WMCIP provided KGMC financial support in the amount of P150,000 for the net and fingerlings, including payment for their training.

From six floating cages when they started in 2001, there are now a total of 42 fish cages in the area.

Fish-cage operations generate jobs, according to Ballon.

While some of their members operate fish cages, others catch fingerlings which they buy at P25 each. Within six months, the grouper fish can be sold from P75 to P250 each, depending on the size and variety of the fish.

Ordinary grouper fish, which weighs less than half a kilo each, costs P65 each. However, those that weigh up to a kilo cost P130 each.

A fish cage can accommodate 200 fishes, with a 90-percent survival rate, which is much higher than those that come from hatcheries, according to Ballon.

They also buy what he calls “scraps,” or caught fish that cannot be sold because they are either too small or damaged, at P15 a kilo.

Normally, he said, it will cost a fish-cage operator P3,000 for every 10 feet by 10 feet fish floating cage for the entire season.

To protect their livelihood, KGMC volunteered to help protect the marine coastal resources, including the all-important bakawan or mangrove which they planted. The bakawan serve as natural habitat and protection from predator for young and small fishes.

“People used to laugh at me, because they saw me planting mangroves. They even teased me, saying they will be the ones to cut them later when they mature,” he said.

Fortunately, the local government of Kabalasan passed a resolution that provides permanent protection to the mangrove forests in the coastal barangay, as well as the entire town.

“We have a tie-up with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, that’s why we can move freely. Otherwise, all our livelihood projects here will not be possible,” he said.

Mangrove trees now thrive, resulting in other benefits, including breeding freshwater crabs that could guarantee a P3,000 monthly income for every hard-working member.

“Lazy people don’t get anything. But those who work hard earn more than enough to feed themselves,” he said.

The freshwater crabs are caught using traps with dried fish as bait during high tide.

“It is easy to catch those crabs. You just put the trap, put some dried fish, and wait for the high tide. In the morning, when the water subsides, you’ll have your crabs,” he said.

Ballon said since they have their own source of fresh seafood, they conducted a study regarding the feasibility of establishing their own restaurant to sustain their livelihood.

So far, KGMC has constructed 15 cottages which have started to attract local tourists, who gave them the idea of serving those fresh maya-maya or lapu-lapu that they grow in fish cages, the talaba and those delicious freshwater crabs.

“If other seafood restaurants are making good business out of the fish we sell to them, why can’t we? This way, we can also help provide jobs not only to our families, but other people in our barangay,” he said.

Source: http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/0314&152008/economy05.html

Firm promotes water impounding in areas without irrigation system


The country’s leading coffee brand Nescafé is actively promoting the building of water impounding areas to combat the dry season in farms with no irrigation systems.

Joel Lumagbas, head of Nestlé Philippines, Inc.’s Agricultural Services, reveals that his team at the Nestlé Experimental and Development Farm (NEDF) is educating farmers in building artificial ponds in low-lying areas of the farm lots where rainwater naturally collects.

It’s cheap, easy to build, and better than doing nothing," he says.

Water management is one of the major problems faced by farmers in areas mostly hit by dry weather conditions. In Mindanao, for example, the dry season starts as early as January and lasts until May. Luzon’s dry season, on the other hand, starts as early as December.

How it is done. Lumagbas says that the excavated areas to be turned into artificial ponds should be lined with polyethylene or hardened clay, whichever is most available, from the bottom up to two meters past the lip. This helps prevent water seeping out for easier collection.

"Polyethylene liners, the same materials used in plastic mulches, are the cheaper and sturdier choice. They are readily available in roll sheets in agricultural supply stores across the country," he adds.

The pond can start from as small as 5 by 12 meters at one meter deep per one hectare of farmland since Lumagbas says it takes at least 60 cubic meters of water per hectare of coffee to partially irrigate the crop.

Surviving the dry months. "The idea is to water your crop just enough to survive the dry months," says Lumagbas. He adds that they usually advise farmers to ask their local government units to provide bulldozers if there is a need for bigger projects.

"Otherwise, it’s good old bayanihan labor," Lumagbas says.

As a bonus, Lumagbas says farmers can choose to raise tilapia or catfish or freshwater eels in the pond for additional income.

Established in 1994, NEDF in Tagum, Davao del Norte, serves as the hub of Nescafé’s agricultural research and training activities. Through its expert agronomists, the NEDF continually conducts trials and experiments to discover and develop better techniques of growing coffee. Guided by the results of its research studies, the NEDF develops and propagates Robusta coffee planting materials such as coffee seeds, rooted cuttings, and ready-to-plant seedlings. These are all made available to interested farmers at cost. www.mb.com.ph

The importance of demo farms


Zac B. Sarian

Demo farms are more effective than you think in transferring profitable and sustainable systems of farming.

Farmers are easier to convince to adopt certain technologies when they actually see examples of doable projects which could inspire them to get into action.

We are particularly glad to note that big corporations such as SM Malls, through its SM Foundation, is partnering with other private firms and government agencies in undertaking training in high-value vegetables and establishing demo farms for farmers to see. See story below.

Earthkeepers in Tiaong, Quezon, is another example of a private initiative which is a showcase of natural farming. Run by Armand and Tere Perez-Saniano, the 3.5-hectare natural farming project is a showcase of sustainable farming and gardening. You should see their gorgeous ornamental plants which are grown without chemical pesticides and chemical fertilizers. Their huge specimens have been displayed in garden shows and have won top prizes.

They are also showcasing how to raise pigs not on cement flooring but on coco coir dust which abounds in Quezon. The usual foul odor in a piggery is eliminated simply by inoculating the coir dust flooring with beneficial organisms and enzymes. The pigs are never bathed and the pigpen is not washed either. It is unlike the traditional piggery which has to be washed with water every day to remove the manure. In the case of the Sanianos’ no-wash pigs, they use the litter which has absorbed the urine and manure of the growing pigs as organic fertilizer for their plants. They also grow a lot of forage plants, like Madre de Agua, for feeding their animals.

The Sanianos also have a practical way of providing protein to their chickens. They feed them with termites which can be cultured by putting old wood in an inverted clay pot and placing the same on the ground where there are termite colonies.

Fortunately, concerned people are getting interested in sustainable farming. Congressman Proceso J. Alcala of the second district of Quezon, for one, has turned to the Sanianos for the training of school teachers and students in organic vegetable production right in their schools. Also, farmers and municipal officials in the towns of the second district of Quezon are now attending trainings on natural farming at Earthkeepers farm in Tiaong. www.mb.com.ph

Iloilo farmers report record harvest of pest-resistant corn


Marvyn N. Benaning

Corn farmers in Iloilo, particularly in the town of Sara, are now planting genetically enhanced varieties to maximize their profits, with many of them swearing that they have been netting between P25,000 and P35,000 per hectare per cropping season.

Curiously, these farmers are not planting the crop in flatlands but in hostile territory, in the steep hillsides and slopes earlier believed to be hostile to any food crop.

Moreover, the new corn variety they are using, Roundup Ready, fits upland soil and uses practically no herbicides since the strain has been genetically enhanced by Monsanto Philippines to survive with least soil preparation and without the need to apply herbicides that target the dreaded Asian corn borer (ACB).

Rosallie Ellasus, president of PhilMaize Foundation (PhilMaize), who earlier led the holding of the National Corn Congress in Iloilo City, said Iloilo farmers are convinced about the many benefits of Roundup Ready and Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) corn, which have been genetically strengthened to battle practically all types of pests.

Bt corn was developed using the bacteria that naturally fights pests and the trait has been carried by seeds that are now being propagated nationwide, even in the 26,000 hectares of land in Sara, Iloilo that are devoted to corn cultivation.

Ellasus said the yield of Roundup Ready and Bt corn ranges from 4.5 tons to 5.5 tons per hectare, and this figure would not have been achieved with the farmers relying only on the traditional varieties. Monsanto has been very active in promoting the use of genetically enhanced corn varieties in Iloilo and other parts of Panay Island through the "Tipid Saka" program.

The genetically enhanced corn varieties require little tillage and do not even require the use of hand tractors and other equipment normally used in flatlands.

PhilMaize recently sponsored a demonstration of the latest upland farming technology in Iloilo and impressed municipal agriculturists from various parts of the country.

Alexander Bugaon, the municipal agriculturist of Lorto, Agusan del Sur said such farming technology could be applied in their town. Edgardo Escobanez, municipal agriculturist of Kulasi, Antique and Concepcion Cepe, assistant provincial agriculturist and provincial corn coordinator of Antique said they were impressed by the superiority of such corn variety, which can grow better and produce more yield in such highly elevated areas like in the corn plantations in Sara.

Ellasus said genetically engineered, herbicide-tolerant or pest-resistant crops like the controversial Bacillus thuringiensis or Bt corn, gives farmers an edge, as it cuts cost On the other hand, to minimize loss from massive infestation by dreaded pests in the case of corn, the Asian Corn Borer (ACB), farmers need to apply chemical pesticides.

The Bt corn is genetically engineered to resist the ACB. Ellasus said even some of the landless farmers in Iloilo, who see better economic opportunities in planting corn, are now "expanding" their plantation, thus triggering a massive conversion of idle land, including what used to be grasslands, into cornfields in upland areas.

A group of individuals in Iloilo that formed the Northern Iloilo Corn Producers Association, Inc. (NICPAI) also saw the opportunity. www.mb.com.ph

P26M na ang pinsala ng black bug sa mga pananim sa South Cotabato


KORONADAL CITY - Umaabot na sa P26 million ang halaga ng pinsala dulot ng pesteng black bug sa mga pananim ng palay at mais sa lalawigan ng South Cotabato.

Iminungkahi ni Provincial Agriculturist Rey Legaste sa mga magsasaka na araruhin na lamang ang kanilang mga maisan at palayan sa sandaling hindi na makontrol ang mga black bug.

Napag-alaman na hindi na mapakinabangan pa ang mga pananim na dinapuan ng black bug na kasing laki lamang ng langaw dahil nasusunog ang mga ito dahil sa mabahong ihi at init na dulot ng naturang peste sa mga pananim. www.bomboradyo.com

Maraming matutuwa dito. Kilala niyo na kung sino sino.

Arroyo OKs P1.5B to boost rice production

MANILA, Philippines -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has approved a P1.5-billion augmentation for the Department of Agriculture (DA) to increase rice production in the face of an "unprecedented" supply problem on the country's staple food, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said Wednesday.

The additional funds will be sourced from "realigning" the budget of select government agencies with “less absorptive capacity,” and Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya is working on it, Yap said in a phone patch interview with reporters at the Palace.

"The President has approved augmentation budget for [rice] production, so we are expanding our wet season target areas, so the President has given P1.5 billion additional for seed support," Yap said.

Arroyo said Tuesday that rice prices were expected to rise, but promised there would be no shortage.

Yap said certified seeds instead of good seeds would be planted in irrigated lands that were not reserved for hybrid rice.

Certified seeds can yield four and a half tons per hectare while good seeds yield three and a half tons per hectare. Hybrid rice seeds yield 6.5 tons per hectare, he said.

"This is very critical. The most important thing to do in the wet season is to distribute, as much as possible, certified seeds so that in the irrigated areas that will not be planted with hybrid rice, they can at least be migrated to certified seeds," he said.

Yap said the "thin" rice supply in the world market was putting pressure on local prices, unlike in 1995 when the country could import rice to address a "supply problem."

"What is happening right now is unprecedented," he said.

Yap refused to give an estimate on how much rice prices were expected to increase, saying he cannot "speculate" on market movements.

Yap said the plan called for the planting of an additional 600,000 hectares (1.5 million acres) of rice during the rainy season in the country's top 10 poorest provinces, and another 500,000 hectares (1.2 million acres) in other provinces. Harvests expected in the months ahead also will beef up supplies, he said.

Yap said the government's rice reserve would last 57 days and that the National Food Authority (NFA) was receiving additional supplies from the international market.

"We're going to get additional support," he said.

The NFA said it has secured 500,000 metric tons (551,155 tons) of rice from Vietnam and Thailand for delivery next month -- part of 2.1 metric million tons (2.31 million tons) to be imported this year.

Rising demand from the Middle East and Africa has hiked the price of rice in Vietnam and Thailand -- the world's top exporters -- to up to US$500 per metric ton, a 25 percent jump from a month ago, the Agriculture Department said.

But even those countries are struggling to keep pace with export demand and there are fears they may curb sales to damp domestic prices and protect their consumers.

The Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU, May First Movement) warned that any shortage or unchecked price of the grain, the nation's staple food, might lead to riots.

The Philippines consumes a total of 11.9 million metric tons of rice annually, most of which is grown domestically.
The market price has increased by an average of P3 (US$0.07) per kilogram from a year ago, Yap said.

He said the government would need to prudently manage its rice stocks, and production and conservation measures must be boosted.

The NFA has deployed "rice marshals" to catch unscrupulous traders who reportedly hoard government-subsidized rice, diverting them from state-run stores to sell them at a higher price elsewhere, said Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita.

NFA chief Jessup Navarro has blamed dwindling rice fields for recurring shortfalls, with many farms in the country's rice growing region of Central Luzon converted to residential subdivisions, golf courses and shopping malls.

Arroyo last week earmarked US$69 million in an effort to cushion the impact of the rising world prices of rice, other goods and crude oil.

She also ordered an expansion of government's hunger mitigation program, including expanding backyard vegetable farming and village food terminals, and intensifying swine restocking and livestock vaccination programs.

By Joel Guinto
INQUIRER.net, Associated Press

I don't think it will lead to riots as KMU claimed. Massive protests, siguro. Riots? Hindi naman tayo katulad ng mga Indonesians.

Alarm raised over shark slaughter in RP

The Philippines on Friday expressed alarm over the commercial hunting of the thresher shark, considered a vulnerable species worldwide.

They said there had been a wholesale slaughter of the 10-foot (three-metre) fish, considered a delicacy in Chinese restaurants here.

"We should stop this slaughter to preserve the ecological balance of our priceless natural heritage," said Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Joselito Atienza.

Local marine conservationist Gerry Reyes said many of the sharks were caught in the Verde Passage off the south coast of the main Philippine island of Luzon, which the government has designated a protected area.

Government patrols have recently seized thresher sharks caught by local fishermen living on the northern edge of the Verde Passage, Reyes told AFP.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which put the thresher shark on its "vulnerable" list last year, says the Verde Passage has the highest concentration of marine life in the world.

Atienza said he had asked authorities to help prevent the hunting and slaughter of the sharks there.

Source: abs-cbnnews.com

Arroyo to visit vegetable farms Saturday
03/21/2008 | 07:04 PM
MANILA, Philippines - President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo resumes her "working Holy Week" Saturday with visits to vegetable and strawberry farmers in the Betag district in La Trinidad town in Benguet province.

A Malacañang statement on Friday afternoon said Mrs Arroyo will motor to Betag for a firsthand look into the plight of upland farmers whose produce have been affected by blight due to temperature fluctuations.

Local government officials, farmers and researchers from the Benguet State University (BSU) will present the result of their studies on the processing of vegetables into veggie noodles, veggie meat, veggie sausage and dehydrated veggie noodles.

They believe processing vegetables instead of selling them to middlemen at low prices in case of natural calamities or a supply glut will help farmers earn higher income from their produce.

During Saturday's visit, Mrs Arroyo will also send off delivery trucks laden with processed vegetables from the country's vegetable bowl to Metro Manila markets.

Before going to Betag, she will distribute government assistance in nearby Puguis village, including rice and checks for farm-to-market road projects.

She will also distribute certificates to operate several Botika ng Barangay, about 3,000 Philhealth cards, certificates to operate Tindahan Natin in La Trinidad, self-employment assistance, scholarships, vegetable seeds, financial support for the vegetable industry, and English reading materials for teachers.

Accompanying her are Rep. Samuel Dangwa of the lone district of Benguet, and Gov. Nestor Fongwa. - GMANews.TV

^Hindi kaya makasama sa health ang processed veggies?

Di ko matanto ang processed veggies. Di ko maisip na kumakain ako ng processed lettuce.

Arroyo to visit vegetable farms Saturday
03/21/2008 | 07:04 PM
MANILA, Philippines - President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo resumes her "working Holy Week" Saturday with visits to vegetable and strawberry farmers in the Betag district in La Trinidad town in Benguet province.


^^ for that... the President got a potato variety named after her :)


Saturday, March 22, 2008
New potato variety named after Arroyo (http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/net/2008/03/22/new.potato.variety.named.after.arroyo.%286.45.p.m.%29.html) (6:45 p.m.)

MANILA -- A new blight-resistant variety of potato has been named after President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in Benguet University, Malacañang disclosed Saturday.

The variety, sourced from the Centro Internalionale de la Papa (International Potato Center) in Lima, Peru, was named "Gloria Kamaptengan," after "mapteng" meaning "good" in Ibaloi and Pangasinan dialects.

"'Kamaptengan' means 'the best of all,'" Rogelio Colting, president of the Benguet State University (BSU) after more than two years of research from
2005-2007, told Arroyo during her visit to a vegetable trading post in Betag district.

Arroyo was in Betag to see off trucks laden with local vegetable produce bound for the metropolis.

Colting showed her the first-generation tubers of the potato variety, initially codenamed 13.1.1, and said the BSU "would like to name it in your honor."


^^ follow-up :)


Arroyo grants P10M for veggie noodles research (http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/net/2008/03/22/arroyo.grants.p10m.for.veggie.noodles.research.(7.41.p.m.).html) (7:41 p.m.)

MANILA -- After having a new potato variety named after her, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo turned over P10 million to a state university to develop noodles made from Cordillera vegetables and tubers.

A Malacañang statement on Saturday night said Arroyo turned over a check worth P10 million to the president of the Benguet State University (BSU) to pilot the production of the veggie noodles.

BSU researchers earlier had presented Arroyo with prototypes of noodles made from gabi leaves, squash, turmeric, carrots and rhubarb at a vegetable trading post in La Trinidad.

She advised BSU president Rogelio Colting to "concentrate on veggie noodles research and development as your mandate."

"Upon being informed that the veggie noodles could be produced on a commercial scale, the President then released the check whose amount came as a welcome surprise to BSU officials who said they were going to request for only P2.5 million as the BSU's counterpart in their proposed P18.5-million Vegetable Noodles joint project with PGMA-Department of Agriculture (DA) and the local government of La Trinidad, Benguet," the Palace statement said.

Arroyo said the prototypes of the "more nutritious and delicious vegetable-fortified noodles" could later become a part of the "Tindahan Natin" project.

She added that vegetable noodles could solve storage and other problems "in this era of soaring wheat prices" and enthused about the "more and better nutritional choices" for Filipinos with the advent of the local vegetable noodles.

Rice crisis imminent: farmers group

An activist peasant group suggested that the Arroyo administration may not be telling all that it knows of a "rice crisis" as it disclosed on Saturday the contents of two internal memoranda to President Arroyo which cited rising local and global demand for rice combined with tight grains supply, plus abnormal weather, as among the factors for higher rice prices this year.

The leftist farmers group, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), said the factors cited in the two documents, one from the Department of Agriculture (DA) and another from the National Food Authority (NFA), showed that a "rice crisis" is "imminent", particularly by the second half of 2008.

The KMP said Saturday a projected "rice crisis" this year can be gleaned from the two government memoranda it had obtained:

1) "Update on the Rice Situation and Outlook for 2008 and Request for Authority to Import Additional 500,000 MT of Rice and the Corresponding Budget Support for 2008", dated February 11, 2008, and signed by Jessup P. Navarro, National Food Authority (NFA) Administrator;

2) A February 27, 2008 DA memorandum of Secretary Arthur Yap to President Arroyo on the "World Rice Situation and Expectations for 2008"

Rafael Mariano, chairman of KMP and concurrent president of Anakpawis party-list, said "these memos outline the reasons for the impending rice crisis".

"As can be seen from the memos Gloria and her regime knows that a rice crisis is imminent but it is still fooling the people because she is afraid of her political future, but by doing so she is toying with the lives of at least 68 million Filipinos who earn less than $2 a day," said Mariano.

Production can't meet demand
While the Philippines registered a 6% growth in palay production in 2007 and will likely continue to see this repeated in the first half of 2008, these are insufficient to meet the increase in demand and the need to keep adequate supply during the lean months in the third quarter of 2008.

"The registered growth in palay production is not enough to meet the combined effect of an increase in demand and the need to maintain the required buffer stock by July 1, the start of the traditional lean supply months of July to September of each year," the NFA memo said.

The memo said palay production in 2007 was 16.237 thousand metric tons (TMT) or nearly 6% higher than the 15.327 TMT in 2006. The increase is due to a 2.7% increase in area planted to palay plus a 3.16% increase in yield.

The NFA said the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics has projected production in the first half of 2008 at 7.154 TMT or 6.33% higher than 2007.

These gains are not enough to meet the per capita consumption of rice in 2008, which is estimated to increase by 2 kilos from 118 to 120 kilos per capita, the NFA said.

"Rice supply-use estimates for crop year 2007-08 considering three (3) scenario (high, medium, low) showed that despite projected gains in productivity, the country will still require an import level of 1.6 to 2.2 MMT, to fully meet demand and buffer stock requirement good for 90-day by end of June 30, this year," the NFA memo said.

Tight global supply
The NFA said the "tight global rice situation" worsened with China’s reported purchase of 1 million metric tons (MMT) from Vietnam.

Vietnam has informed the Philippines of its supply limitations.

"Vietnam was reported to have already suspended its rice export activities for 2008 due to limited supply. Also Vietnam wrote DA they will only assure 1 MMT rice exports to the Philippines," it said.

The NFA memo also said "world market price of rice remains volatile, increasing at significant levels," which has thus affected NFA’s rice procurements.

From December 21, 2007 to end of January 2008, the NFA memo said it "has procured a total of only 1,658 MT palay (1,077 MT in rice equivalent) or 88% less than the volume procured same month last year."

The NFA memo said "prevailing ex-farm price of palay in major palay producing areas in Luzon (Region 2, 3, 4 & 5) ranged from a low of P11.00/kg (Isabela & Quirino) to a high of P14.50 in Nueva Ecija. In the Visayas, prices averaged at P11.50-P12.00/kg while in Mindanao, prices were higher at P11.00-P14.00/kg."

Abnormal weather
The NFA memo also cited Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration’s (PAGASA) forecast of "abnormal weather" conditions this year as a factor for the projected rice shortage.

"The abnormal weather condition will more likely result to stress the standing palay crop, more especially during its booting stage which would result to low yields," the NFA said.

Based on the other memo, from Secretary Arthur Yap to Pres. Arroyo, it noted the supply constraints of rice-exporting countries.

"In Thailand, palay harvest will be on March – April but the volume is only very limited estimated at 6 MMT (roughly 30% of their annual production) since their main harvest will still be on November where harvest is estimated at 20 MMT," the memo said. "Bulk of their palay inventory is still in the hands of the farmers as they are awaiting for higher prices."

"The Thai government is still holding around 1.5 MMT two-year old rice but the new government is still adamant to touch the volume," it added.

The DA memo also noted that Vietnam and China have "now imposed volume limitations on their rice exports."

It said world rice prices are expected to continue its upward trend especially since "some governments are rushing to build up their inventories."

Long-term measures
Mariano said the information from the two memoranda means that "rice is now a sellers market."

Mariano said rice importation is only a "band-aid" solution, which makes the Philippines "more dependent on other countries."

To help alleviate the rice shortage, the KMP proposed the following long-term measures:

- Increase rice production through "genuine agrarian reform";

- Break-up the local rice cartel;

- Stop conversion of rice/crop farms to non-agricultural uses;

- Scrap deals that give land rights to foreigners.

Arroyo administration: Supply sufficient
The Arroyo administration, in its recent public pronouncements, has tried to assure the public that the country’s rice supply for the year remains sufficient.

Malacañang said that NFA keeps sufficient supply of rice in its warehouses all over the country to last up to next harvest.

Malacañang said that as of March 10, 2008, the government has a total of 415.6 thousand metric tons (TMT) of rice good for 13 days supply.

Yap said 287.7 TMT are in NFA warehouses, while 54.7 TMT are being unloaded and 75.2 TMT are in transit to different destinations around the country.

Yap also said, the Department of Agriculture (DA) is expecting an additional 721.2 TMT of rice to arrive from contracted imports, starting April, which will be good for 22 more days.

The Palace pronouncement said that Yap also noted that a total of 180,800 metric tons (MT) of rice has already arrived in the country and another shipment is expected to arrive within this month. The rice supply is part of the 422,702 mt of rice bidded on Dec. 21, 2007.

It said that the DA is expecting the arrival anytime now of 454,000 MT of rice which was approved in the Jan. 29, 2008 bidding.

To ensure food security, the government has implemented the following measures: strict management of NFA’s procurement and distribution program, implementation of a cross commodity production program, and strengthening of food logistics and distribution projects in all Barangay Food Terminals (BFT) and Tindahan Natin outlets.

The government is also implementing a nationwide rice conservation program as part of the government’s hunger mitigation and food security program.

NFA said the average daily national consumption of rice has gone up from 26,000 metric tons in 2003 to 33,000 tons this year.

Price has doubled in recent purchase
The Philippines recently bought 335,500 tons of rice from Vietnam at an average price of $708.04 per ton cost and freight, for delivery between March and May, officials said on March 18. The price was reportedly double of what the country paid six months ago.

Manila was looking to source 550,000 tons of its national staple at the tender, which was held last week and only attracted bids for 335,500 tons.

The Philippines has failed in three straight auctions to secure the full rice volume that it sought. The average price at the last auction in January was $474.71 per ton.

Industry officials in Thailand, the world's top exporter, have warned that prices could soon rise to $1,000 a ton as even India, a key rice producer like Vietnam, has also curtailed exports.

Rice: Filipino staple – political commodity
"Rice is a political commodity here," said Earl Parreño, an analyst at the Institute for Political and Electoral Reform had told Reuters.

"If there's a shortage, it would really heighten the anger of the people against the government."

Already beset by an intense political crisis due to allegations of large-scale corruption by her administration and an unraveling controversy on allegations of surrendering the Philippines’ sovereign claim to the Kalayaan Group of Islands (known internationally as Spratlys Islands), Mrs. Arroyo may face a bigger one should this "rice crisis" of tight supply and high prices be felt by Filipino consumers. www.abs-cbnnews.com

I suggest somebody make noodles out of malunggay leaves ala spinach fettucine or other alternatives such as kamote leaves, gabi leaves as ingredients for noodles.

I don't understand why pinoys are so fixated with rice. Sobra kumain ng kanin, rice must be considered a side dish like potatoes, corn and yams. Filipinos should cut back on rice diet by adding more vegetables side dishes. A corn diet is said to be good for women as it sweetened the breath and makes the mammary glands bigger like that of the hispanic women.


http://www.gmanews.tv/story/85787/Arroyo-grants-P10M-for-veggie-noodles-research

Arroyo grants P10M for veggie noodles research

MANILA, Philippines - After having a new potato breed named after her there, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo turned over P10 million to a state university to develop noodles made from Cordillera vegetables and tubers.

A Malacañang statement on Saturday night said Mrs Arroyo turned over a check worth P10 million to the president of the Benguet State University (BSU) to pilot the production of the veggie noodles.

BSU researchers earlier had presented her with prototypes of noodles made from gabi leaves, squash, turmeric, carrots and rhubarb at a vegetable trading post in La Trinidad.

She advised BSU president Rogelio Colting to "concentrate on veggie noodles research and development as your mandate."

"Upon being informed that the veggie noodles could be produced on a commercial scale, the President then released the check whose amount came as a welcome surprise to BSU officials who said they were going to request for only P2.5 million as the BSU's counterpart in their proposed P18.5-million Vegetable Noodles joint project with
PGMA-Department of Agriculture (DA) and the local government of La Trinidad, Benguet," the Palace statement said.

Mrs Arroyo said the prototypes of the "more nutritious and delicious vegetable-fortified noodles" could later become a part of the "Tindahan Natin" project.

She added that vegetable noodles could solve storage and other problems "in this era of soaring wheat prices" and enthused about the "more and better nutritional choices" for Filipinos with the advent of the local vegetable noodles.

On the other hand, she said the noodle prototypes could later be shared with noodles manufacturers, and even with the "Go Negosyo" entrepreneurship program.

She ordered the DA to provide technical assistance, the Presidential Management Staff (PMS) to ensure credit assistance and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to take care of marketing concerns.

The Palace statement said the BSU is also planning on developing noodles from fruits; cereals like wheat flour, rice, oatmeal, corn and sorghum; root crops like potato, yams, aroids and sweet potato; spices like garlic, onions, celery, black pepper and hot pepper; and herbs like comfrey, tarragon, lemon balm, pitcher plant and white oaks.

In developing noodles from highland vegetables, the BSU explained that processing is "the best way to transport vegetables and fruits from Benguet to other parts of the country with minimal post-harvest losses and lesser transport cost."

"Processing is the best way to utilize fully the vegetables and fruits that easily dry up or rot," aside from being "the best way to produce value-added products from fresh vegetables and fruits such as juice, fresh cuts, and flour, apart from the main product such as noodles," said the BSU brochure in its research findings.

The Vegetable Noodles project is also looking at producing veggie pastas, meats, sausages, nuggets, fresh juices, fresh cuts, grates and strips, soup base, flour and ketchup.

Also in attendance during Mrs Arroyo's visit here and her subsequent foray to the nearby lettuce and strawberry picking fields were Presidential Management Staff head Cerge Remonde and Benguet officials led by Rep. Samuel Dangwa. - GMANews.TV

Eastern Visayas rice output this year to top 1 million tons

TACLOBAN CITY — The Department of Agriculture is optimistic that rice production in Eastern Visayas will breach the one-million-metric ton mark this year despite production losses to flooding last month.

The latest department report showed that around 70,000 hectares of rice fields, which would have produced rice worth P164 million, have been destroyed by incessant rains. Nearly 60% of these rice fields are in Eastern Samar, which was worst hit by flooding. Around 15,000 farmers, including some 8,000 in Eastern Samar, were displaced.

Eastern Samar, however, contributes only 5% of the total rice production in the region so damage could be considered minimal, said Leo Cañeda, Agriculture regional executive director.

"I remain positive that even with this extreme weather condition, Region 8 will be able to maintain its productivity, considering that the area affected is only minimal and we will be able to hit our production target," Mr. Cañeda said.

He added that the average rice yield per hectare in Eastern Visayas has been increasing. Last year, the average yield went up almost 7% to 3.71 MT per hectare from 3.51 MT/ha in the previous year.

"We remain bullish because the average yield in Region 8 has been increasing. We should maintain the growth momentum," Mr. Cañeda said.

Based on the data of the Bureau of Agriculture Statistics, the total rice output in Eastern Visayas grew 14.3% to 950,000 MT last year. It was the highest growth rate recorded in the country and exceeded even the 2010 production target of the region, he added.

"In 2007, we thought that we can achieve only around 7% growth rate but at the end of the year, we were able to mobilize 14.3% output growth. If this growth will be sustained this year, production output could reach 1.2 million MT by the end of 2008," Mr. Cañeda said.

He said the distribution of certified seeds would play an important role in sustaining the growth.

As of last week, some 7,500 bags of certified seeds were ready for distribution to the provincial and municipal agriculture offices.

Mr. Cañeda said local seed growers will be able to produce at least 37,000 bags of this high yielding variety this year to meet the demand of 30,000 bags for the May-to-October cropping season. www.bworldonline.com

Landbank extends P125M-loan to agrarian reform projects

By MARIANNE V. GO
The Philippine Star

The Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank) has extended a total of P125 million in loans to agrarian reform communities through its Agri-finance Solutions (Agrisol) program.

More than 12,000 households in agrarian reform communities (ARCs) nationwide have so far been reached through the Agrisol, a program jointly implemented by Landbank and the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) through the funding support of the World Bank.

Landbank president and chief executive officer Gilda E. Pico said loans were extended to ARCs through various program conduits such as cooperatives, the National Confederation of Cooperatives, countryside financial institutions and anchor firms.

The amount represents 40 percent of the P317 million which Landbank has committed for the program.

The number of borrowers, meanwhile, represents 42 percent of the 28,800 target borrowers of the program.

For its part, the World Bank has extended P25.7 million as grant to the program for capacity-building of cooperatives in the identified areas.

Agrisol aims to strengthen the institutional viability of ARCs through enterprise-based and market-led financing intervention.

Under this program, generation of savings and capital build-up of ARC coops are also being looked at for sustainability and enable them to qualify and have better access to the lending facilities of formal financial institutions.

"In this enterprise-based and market-led financing program, we see to it that the borrowers must have an identified market for their produce or have a marketing tie-up with a reliable market outlet or buyer before specific trainings and financing will be provided," Pico said.

Projects financed under the Agrisol include a variety of agri-related activities or commodities such as palay and corn in Ilocos Norte, Isabela and Occidental Mindoro, geotextile projects in Quezon and Misamis Occidental, rubber and palm oil production in Compostela Valley, sugarcane farming and organically grown bananas in Negros Oriental, and cavendish banana plantation in Davao Norte www.abs-cbnnews.com

Scientist finds lucrative use for Sago palm

A scientist from the University of the Philippines-Mindanao has found a lucrative use for Sago palm that could help uplift the livelihood of the indigenous Manobo tribe.

In her winning entry at the 7th Philippine Council for Industry and Energy Research and Development Fora and Competitions in Industry and Energy R&D, Dr. Dulce Flores, a researcher at the UP-Mindanao, cited that the gram positive bacterium "Enterococcus faecium" yields the most lactic acid from Sago starch through a process called direct fermentation. Lactic acid is natural by-product of fermented products.

Results confirmed that Enterococcus faecium possesses a unique capability of converting starch directly to lactic acid without the need for the costly pre-enzymatic treatment, Flores said.

In the wild, sago yields starch at an average of 25 tons per hectare, holding the record for being the highest starch-producing crop in the world. It is being harvested from the wild in Indonesia and Malaysia and exported as starch. It also grows in the wild in the Philippines but is not considered a crop.

Sago starch can be found in trunks of sago palm (scientific name: Metroxylon sagu) and must not be confused with the rounded tapioca balls, which is produced from cassava, she said.

Flores said it is a potential "green earner" as lactic acid is currently being produced by a number of companies around the world. Beyond its limited use in the food, cosmetic and leather processing industries, its main application is in the field of medical industry particularly in biodegradable sutures, among others.

She noted the need to produce a high volume of inexpensive lactic acid has led researchers around the world to find an alternative process of producing the chemical compound.

"As of this time, the race is about finding the low-cost fermentation process for an equally low cost abundant carbohydrate feed stock," she said.

In 2004, the economic potential of lactic acid in the world market as compared to simply importing it as plain sago starch recorded a staggering 300-fold increase. Sago starch sells at US$ 200 per ton while food-grade lactic acid is being bought at US$ 65,000 per ton, Flores noted. citing an industry report.

"Right now, sago wild stands are waiting to be harvested in several regions in Mindanao," she also said, mentioning sago-endemic areas as the marshes of Agusan and Surigao provinces, Davao Oriental, the Liguasan Marsh, and western Mindanao, particularly Basi-an and Jolo.

The Agusan Manobos, like other tribes in Southeast Asia, consider sago as their staple food.

Prized among ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries for its environment-saving properties, it greens large areas such as peat swamps and flooded areas where other trees cannot grow without pesticides and fertilizers. It also withstands forest fires. Despite its potential as a high-yielding crop, sago is known to only 10 percent of the Philippine population. http://news.balita.ph/

"... the Philippines is close to signing a deal with Vietnam this week for up to 1 million metric tons of rice that would boost Manila's local reserves, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said Tuesday.

A trade representative from Vietnam will arrive Wednesday to finalize a deal with the Philippines, Yap said in a radio interview."

Here (http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/1248024/)

Cost-efficient organic rice farming needed

BY HELENGRACE C. GARCIA, Correspondent
Businessworldonline

KORONADAL CITY — Amid the looming rice shortage, a nongovernmental organization is urging the government to consider cost-efficient organic rice farming as an option in the rice production program.

Jerry E. Pacturan, executive director of Philippine Development Assistance Programme, Inc. (PDAP), said the country needs a more strategic approach through organic rice farming rather than through an "indirect solution" like reducing wastage in rice consumption.

Organic rice farming, which excludes the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides in favor of rice straw and compost, is promoted by PDAP being a low-cost yet equally productive form of agriculture.

"Organic rice yields of those who have been practicing already for [three to five] years now ranges from 100 to 130 sacks a hectare which is higher than hybrid rice yields. The national average for hybrid rice is only about 80 to 100 sacks a hectare," Mr. Pacturan said.

In a phone interview, he said that farmgate price of organic rice is generally P1 to P2 higher than non-organic rice. Production costs for a hectare of organic rice ranges from P5,000 to P10,000 compared with P25,000 to P30,000 with conventional farming. The bulk of this cost goes to agrochemicals, he said.

The return on investments in organic rice is higher, despite initial lower yields especially in the first few years of production, he said.

Victor C. Kapunan, a farmer-leader in South Cotabato who has been producing organic rice for years, agrees that the cash cost in organic farming is much lower. He was forced to revert half of what he is tilling to conventional farming, however, for economic reasons.

"I still believe that organic farming is the only solution to rice shortage and poverty problems in the long run but I also have a family to support and debts to pay," he said.

Based on his experience, a hectare of land yields only 40 to 60 sacks of organic rice compared to the 80 to 120 sacks produced in non-organic farming.

Don Bosco Foundation for Sustainable Development, Inc. in Cotabato City, whose members have an accumulated 3,000 hectares allotted to organic rice production with PDAP’s support, has a more successful tale to tell, however.

"Our highest yield is 125 bags a hectare at 65 kilograms per bag, or more than eight tons," said Ma. Helenita L. Ruizo-Gamela, president and chief executive officer of the foundation that is also an advocate of biodynamic agriculture.

"We have a first-timer who got 710 bags [of organic rice] from seven hectares. With chemicals, he previously got 648 bags of rice as highest yield," she said.

Her list of important factors in organic rice production includes the following: length of time the system has been practiced; degree of degradation of soil before the shift; skill and level of consciousness of the farmer; climatic condition; soil fertility; water supply; and plant vitality, among others.

Meanwhile, Mr. Pacturan criticized the government for the absence of a clear land-use management policy, which he said is one of the major strategic problems of the rice industry.

"If the government had a national land-use policy, this could prevent land conversion to maintain our rice areas in the country," he said.

The possible conversion of rice lands to biofuel feedstock was a recent controversy. Mr. Pacturan clarified though that producing jatropha, a good source of biofuel, is not a problem as long as it is planted in rainfed lands to avoid conflict with rice production.

"It should be planted in unutilized lands only, especially the upland areas," he said.

NAIA officials find pest in mangoes from Thailand
03/27/2008 | 03:22 PM

MANILA, Philippines - Officials of the Bureau of Plant Industry discovered Wednesday that seized mangoes from Thailand were infested with pests that attack the fruit's seeds.

Last Saturday, BPI personnel stationed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) seized the illegal cargo containing the fruit.

Laboratory tests showed that the confiscated mangoes were attacked by mango seed or nut weevil (sternochaetes mangiferae), said Luben Marasigan, officer in charge of the BPI Plant Quarantine Services Unit at the NAIA.

According to Marasigan, the pest which attacks mango seeds has not been discovered in any kind of native Philippine fruit.

He added that the seed weevil usually thrives in mangoes that were grown in Indonesia and Malaysia.

"The (mango) specimen we tested at the laboratory showed the presence of the insect, which has patches on some portions of its head and wings and has a snout used to pierce through seeds," Marasigan told GMANews.TV in a phone interview.

The shipment arrived in the country from Bangkok, Thailand, on board a Kuwait Airlines flight KU-411 last March 22. Initial investigation showed that a certain “Mr. Garcia" owned the cargo, he added.

The mangoes, weighing around 275 kilograms, were found inside six boxes and two suitcases that were left near the airport's conveyor.

NAIA’s customs officials held the cargo because it did not have proper importation documents.

Marasigan said that all imported plant products and materials must have a clearance from the BPI as prescribed by the Agriculture Department's Administrative Order Number 18, Series of 2000.

Aside from mangoes, plant products from and materials for growing citrus fruits, sugar cane, and bananas are covered by the DA order.

A phytosanitary certificate that should be issued by the country of origin is also required before the shipment is allowed to pass through customs officials.


For burning

After slicing open some 800 confiscated mangoes, Marasigan discovered eight pieces to be carrying pests either in their larval, pupal, or adult stages.

The mangoes will be burned on Friday, he added.

"Nagpadala na ako ng letter sa director namin requesting na sunugin na yung mga mangga by (Friday) morning siguro (I have sent a letter of request to our director, asking for the immediate burning of the mangoes)," Marasigan said.

He said that had the cargo been allowed to pass through, the pest could definitely pose a threat to the local agriculture industry.

"We have reminded all our personnel and officials to be vigilant with incoming articles, especially mangoes, so that we could immediately dispose them," he said. - Mark Merueñas, GMANews

baka may plano sila sirain ang mango industry natin...

Honeydew melon grows well in lahar areas, engineer says
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By LINO SANCHEZ

PORAC, Pampanga – For sometime, there had been doubts about the soil condition of lahar-covered farms in Pampanga, but after studies and experiments, it was found that crops grow well on lahar lands.

This was demonstrated by an enterprising engineer.

Aeronautical and computer engineering graduate Iris Liwag, 31, a native of Nueva Ecija, was not a farmer by birth.

But one time, a friend convinced him to watch new farming technologies and agriculture produce in several Asian countries, including Taiwan and Japan.

Impressed by what he had observed, Liwag decided to develop a five-hectare, lahar-covered land in Barangay Mancatian, this town.

In the last two years he had "experimented" on honeydew melon. This year, Liwag harvested thousands of tons which he humbly described as a good start.

Selling at between R85 and R110 per kilo in the supermarkets, Liwag’s honeydew melon is sold at only R25-R30 per kilo. He said he has limited his market to ambulant vendors and some supermarkets in Angeles City.

"It is my little way of providing employment and meager income to those who are selling our produce," Liwag said. He also employes 10 farm helpers. They are the people who help do the work such as preparing the seed beds and harvesting the crops.

Liwag is contemplating on expanding his farm by another five hectares. "I am thinking of the market in Metro Manila," he said.

Although foreign buyers are willing to buy his honeydew melon, he said he would rather concentrate on the local market until he has come up with an efficient marketing system.

In the meantime Liwag is planning to introduce in his farm Japanese and Taiwanese melons.

"What is good with the variety that we now produce is that they do not easily spoil," he said. They retain freshness for several days or weeks provided these are well packed and stored, he said.

Liwag said there are still bigh lands in Pampanga that should be cultivated. With government assistance, many more people will invest in agriculture, he said. www.mb.com.ph

Neglect of agriculture cause of poverty, says UN body

By Michelle Remo
Philippine Daily Inquirer (http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view/20080328-127029/Neglect-of-agriculture-cause-of-poverty-says-UN-body)
First Posted 19:01:00 03/28/2008

MANILA, Philippines -- Insufficient efforts by the Philippine and other governments in the Asia Pacific region to improve the agriculture sector was the reason the fight against poverty has not gained much in recent years.

This was according to the United Nation’s Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (Escap), which noted that two-thirds or 641 million of the poor people of the world live in the region.

“The gap is widening between the rich and the poor because the benefits of growth are not shared equally by different sectors, regions or income groups. Agriculture appears neglected, even though it still provides jobs for 60 percent of the working population in Asia Pacific,” Escap said in the 2008 Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific, which was released Friday.

Escap said the shifting focus of developmental efforts from agriculture to the industry and services sectors was being done despite the fact that most of the region’s population was dependent on agriculture for their livelihood.

Jovi Dacanay, economics professor at the University of Asia and the Pacific and speaker during the Escap survey’s media launch, said that in the case of the Philippines, 70 to 80 percent of the country’s population directly or indirectly depends on agriculture for their income.

But over the years, agriculture has been overtaken by the services sector in terms of contribution to the country’s overall economic growth. Agriculture accounts for about a fifth of the country’s economic output.

Dacanay said an ideal scenario would be for the agriculture sector to contribute much more to economic output to benefit more of the country’s labor force.

The economist said Escap was pushing for governments in Asia Pacific countries to allot more resources for the development of the agriculture sector. He said more microfinance programs should be made available to farmers.

Many farmers in Asia Pacific countries are “still in the learning process in terms of how to manage funds,” she said.

Escap said many countries in the region still have lack of rural infrastructure and poor delivery of basic services to the rural areas.

Dacanay said Escap was also advocating for the full implementation of agriculture-related commitments of WTO-member countries during the Doha round of talks.

In 2001, members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) made commitments during talks held in Doha, Qatar, to substantially reduce subsidies granted by some countries, especially industrialized ones, to their export sector that leads to unfair competition, and other forms of support that distort trade.

Dacanay said full implementation of the commitments made during the Doha round of talks could lift some 20 million people from poverty in the Philippines alone. More people from other Asia Pacific countries can be freed from poverty if global agricultural trade manifested fairness.

Agri expert: RP should raise farmers’ productivity

The Arroyo administration needs to invest in farmers’ productivity and raise their level of profitability to be competitive, a leading agricultural economist said.

Arsenio Balisacan, former agriculture secretary and currently professor of economics at the University of the Philippines, and director of the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture, told abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak that government has to invest in appropriate irrigation systems for the farmers and link them up with the markets.


“There is no way we can get our farmers out of poverty and be competitive in the world if we don’t invest in their productivity,” Balisacan said.

He added that government needs professionals in the agriculture bureaucracy “who can appreciate and support continuity of programs.”

Balisacan traced the roots of the current rice crisis to the country’s fast growing population and low productivity. This is exacerbated by the soaring food prices worldwide.

“Demand for food is growing fast not because our incomes are growing -- our incomes have not been growing as fast as our neighbors, so we have not shifted to other crops – but because our population is growing at 2.3 percent a year. That’s almost two million additional mouths to feed every year,” he said.



“Our agricultural land is fixed. So the only way to catch up if we want the price of rice to remain stable is to increase productivity on a sustained basis. That means increasing farmers’ output with the same amount of inputs. You do that through investments in research and development, proper irrigation, proper understanding of the needs of the farmers,” Balisacan explained.

www.abs-cbnnews.com

Farmer bills Philippine President for strawberries

MANILA, Philippines - More than a week after picking strawberries in Benguet province last Black Saturday, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is being billed by the owner of the farm.

Radio reports said that farmer Ignacio Canuto approached local media to help him get the bill to Mrs Arroyo, after local officials there gave him the runaround.

Canuto said Mrs Arroyo, upon the "suggestion" of Benguet Gov. Nestor Fongwan and La Trinidad Mayor Artemio Galwan, picked 50 kilos of strawberries from his farm when she visited the town.

He said he was selling strawberries for over a hundred pesos a kilo.

Mrs Arroyo and her entourage went to the area last Saturday to promote the strawberry industry, amid complaints by visitors to Baguio City that few strawberries from Benguet were available in the city market that day.

Radio reports said that relatives of Canuto tried to get payment from the local agriculture department office but were supposedly told they approached the wrong agency.- GMANews.TV

DA is also closely monitoring corn supply

Mars W. Mosqueda Jr.

MANDAUE CITY, Cebu — After issuing orders to address hoarding of rice, President Arroyo also ordered yesterday the close monitoring of price and supply situations of corn in the Visayas, to preempt a shortage in the staple grain that is largely used in animal feeds production.

President Arroyo ordered the Department of Agriculture (DA) to check the alleged shortage of corn to determine whether it is real or artificial, the latter being a result of hoarding by unscrupulous traders.

The President, who attended the general assembly of Cebu Local Government Officials at the Cebu International Convention Center, also said she wanted to know if the shortage is caused by misdistribution.

"I have also urged the National Food Authority to include corn in Tindahan Natin outlets, aside from rice, in areas where corn is considered staple," said President Arroyo.

The Grain Retailers Confederation of the Philippines (GRCP) hinted that corn supply is running low because of its increasing price, which has become even more expensive than some rice varieties.

President Arroyo, however, vowed that her government will go after rice and corn hoarders as she stressed that the high price of rice is caused by the worldwide shortage.

"Because of the high price of rice, there is a big temptation for people to remill our NFA rice and sell it as high class rice," said Arroyo, who earlier ordered a purge of unscrupulous NFA rice traders by revoking the licenses of all 5,000 NFA retailers and re-accrediting only the qualified ones.

During her speech before a gathering of local officials of Cebu Province, composed of mayors, councilors, and barangay officials, President Arroyo expressed optimism that the country will continue to harvest the result of the ongoing economic overhaul her administration has implemented.

"I remain bullish in our economy and optimistic in our future because I have friends like the people of Cebu," President Arroyo said after Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia led the group of local chief executives and leaders in strengthening political ties with the President.

In return, President Arroyo thanked her Cebuano supporters and hoped that other provinces in the country will follow the "good governance that Cebu officials are doing".

She also said that the unwavering support of the people has given her more strength to fight poverty, feed the poor, improve education, and widen job creation. www.mb.com.ph

Zamboanga fish hatchery starts operating

ZAMBOANGA CITY — A P30-million fish hatchery project will be inaugurated today in Tawi-Tawi, Virgilio L. Leyretana, chairman of the Mindanao Economic Development Council (MEDCo) said over the weekend.

Mr. Leyretana said the project will produce fingerlings and juveniles of marine species, particularly humpback grouper, abalone, and sea cucumber, which now command high market prices in Asian markets.

"The assumption is that this hatchery will infuse P84 million in the local economy of Tawi-Tawi annually," Mr. Leyretana said in an interview.

Provincial Governor Sadikul Sahali said the project will be implemented in the municipality of Panglima Sugala. Private firm Mega Fishing Corp. was tapped as operator of the project.

An earlier official statement said the hatchery’s net income from its first year of operations has been projected at $300,000.

Live humpback grouper is bought by traders from Shenzen, China for as high as $60 per kilogram. Abalone sells for $47/kg, while sea cucumber, which is popular in China, commands a price of up to $17/kg.

The Fisheries bureau said the hatchery will complement a 200-hectare mariculture park in Tawi-Tawi. The park will serve as a "grow out" area for the fingerlings produced by the hatchery.

The hatchery forms part of government plans to establish two mariculture highways that will link mariculture parks in the country. The two highways will cover the country’s eastern and the western seaboards.

The eastern seaboard will start from Surigao connecting to Samar and Leyte and further north to Casiguran Sound in Aurora. The western seaboard will start from Tawi-Tawi, connecting mariculture parks in Zamboanga and in Palawan.

"Transport vessels will then collect the high-value cultured fish from the mariculture parks using the highways en-route their respective ports of destination like Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan among others," read a briefing paper on the plan. — Darwin T. Wee

www.bworldonline.com

Philippines Raids Rice Warehouses to Combat Hoarding (Update3)

By Luzi Ann Javier

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/data?pid=avimage&iid=iU4cH6OFCloI

March 31 (Bloomberg) -- Philippine investigators are raiding rice warehouses as the world's biggest buyer of the grain cracks down on hoarding after global prices almost doubled in the past year, threatening food security.

One warehouse to the north of Manila was caught repackaging 20,000 fifty-kilogram bags of rice from subsidized government supplies, Ric Diaz, an official at the National Bureau of Investigation, said in a phone interview today. The bureau is planning more raids, said Diaz, the head of the investigating team that carried out the March 28 inspection.

Record prices of the cereal are driving up costs for rice- buying nations from the Philippines to Nigeria, and for producers including Anheuser-Busch Cos., the biggest U.S. buyer of the grain, and cereal maker Kellogg Co. China, India, Vietnam and Egypt are curbing rice exports, and South Korea will release grain from state-controlled reserves to cool prices.

``Hoarding widens the gap in supply,'' said Luz Lorenzo, an economist at ATR-Kim Eng Securities Inc. in Manila. ``The raids will mitigate the problem. Hopefully, rising prices will encourage governments all over the world to boost production.''

Read full story at Bloomberg.com: Asia (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=aXBBvxUB6X0s&refer=asia)


^^ RP is the world's biggest rice buyer? ngayon ko lang nalaman ito :ohno:

Arroyo says rice production could increase by 7% this year
03/31/2008 | 07:22 PM

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines is expecting a 7 percent increase in the country’s rice production this year.

This was according to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who told the 11th Asian Investment Conference in Hong Kong that the increase is due to her administration’s “unprecedented spending" to the agricultural sector.

President Arroyo said these spending goes to research and development of the agriculture industry, which includes the construction, repairs and rehabilitation of agriculture-related infrastructures like farm-to-market roads, irrigations facilities, and food support system.

“We would recognize that farming not just in the Philippines but in other countries need to be modernized, and we have been religiously implementing our Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act, spending unprecedented amounts of money in our agricultural sector… That’s why we are expecting this year a 7-percent increase in rice production," she said.

The Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) reported that in 2007, total rice production in Philippines was recorded at 16.24 million metric tons.

This was due to the DA’s intervention measures to boost yields and contain the adverse impact of the climate change during the second and third quarters of the year.

The BAS said it was a 5.96 % increase from 15.33 million metric tons in 2006 to 16.24 million metric tons in 2007, which was harvested from a total of 4.27 million hectares of rice fields all over the country.

President Arroyo said they are expecting a boost in the country’s rice supply especially with the scheduled arrival of 1.5 million metric tons of imported rice from Vietnam in July.

The President assured that this additional rice supply would be accessible to the youth, who would be affected the most by increases in the price of rice.

“We have signed already a formal agreement with them (Vietnam), so what’s very important is that we make sure that the poorest of the poor will get relief from the hardships not only brought about by the declining world production but also by all the other vagaries that would come up – the high price of oil, the credit crunch in the big economies such as the US," she said.

Apart form Vietnam, the Philippines is also importing some 100,000 metric tons of rice form the United States which is expected to further increase the country’s rice stock. - GMANews.TV (http://www.gmanews.tv/story/87013/Arroyo-says-rice-production-could-increase-by-7-this-year)

http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Headlines&p=49&type=2&sec=24&aid=20080330146

‘Half-rice’ offered at McDonald’s amid fears of food crisis
By Katherine Adraneda
Monday, March 31, 2008

“Half-rice” may soon become standard fare in fast food restaurants.

McDonald’s, one of the leading chains of quick-service restaurants in the country, announced plans to serve half-rice to its customers in response to government’s call to help conserve the country’s supply of the staple.

Margot Torres, vice president for marketing of McDonald’s, said half-rice meals would be officially made available in all McDonald’s outlets beginning April 17.

Torres, however, said McDonald’s will remain committed to offering high quality food to customers despite the half-rice meal.

“McDonald’s immediately acted upon (Agriculture) Secretary (Arthur) Yap’s appeal and mobilized a plan to offer half rice in its restaurants, still guided by the brand’s commitment to food quality for its customers,” Torres said.

She said the quick-service restaurant has acquired half-rice scoopers and developed in-store promotion materials for the campaign.

“The effort will not only help the country in rice conservation,” Torres said.

Since early March, rice prices have steadily increased triggered by fears of global shortage in supply.

The government will be spending at least P3.35 billion for emergency measures to mitigate the effects of the global tightening of rice and other food commodities.

The National Food Authority (NFA) also embarked on a consumer campaign for rice conservation.

The NFA said an estimated 25,000 bags of rice are wasted in Filipino households nationwide every day.

The NFA is embarking on the campaign to make the public realize how much of the rice they cook daily actually go to waste and for them to undertake measures to prevent such wastage.

Rice prices soar: P40 per kilo in Quezon province
04/01/2008 | 08:12 AM

MANILA, Philippines - Fears of many people were realized in Quezon province Tuesday where prices of rice went up to as high as P40 a kilo and the lowest-priced rice selling for P32 a kilo.

Radio dzRH reported Tuesday morning that rice dealers at the Agora Market in Lucena City justified the increase saying rice millers had to raise their prices because they are now buying palay at P18 per kilo instead of the previous P11 per kilo.

Last month, they said the lowest price of rice had gone up from P19 per kilo to P27 per kilo.

Meanwhile, the National Food Authority (NFA) in Pampanga province has started selling "almost-expired" rice to local businessmen at P18.25 a kilo.

But radio dwIZ reported that provincial manager Elvira Obaña stressed the rice was to be sold as animal feed and is not for human consumption.

Still, the report said local residents suspect local businessmen will sell the rice at a profit.

For its part, the Catholic Church and the Department of Agriculture and NFA may enter into terms of collaboration for the distribution of rice.

Agriculture Sec. Arthur Yap is eyeing the network of the National Secretariat of Social Action (NASSA) to bring quality and affordable rice to where it is most needed.

NASSA executive director Sister Rosanne Malillin said the government proposed to the Catholic Church to enter into a partnership to assure everyone of steady rice supply pegged at P18.25 per kilo. She said this is one alternative the government has carefully studied as a number of Tindahan Natin stores' licenses were revoked.

"We will just identify the parishes that would welcome this kind of idea and find out if they are willing to lend space for rice distribution," Malillin was quoted as saying in an article posted on the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines website.

A meeting between NASSA and Yap was originally scheduled Tuesday but had to be postponed.

Malilim said "there's no rice crisis" attesting to what she found in her recent trips to Cagayan, in Luzon, Bicol in Southern Luzon and General Santos in Southern Mindanao.

She said she saw farmers harvesting their crops and "probably, some people have seriously projected how much money would make by increasing prices of rice." She further described the abrupt increase in rice prices as "unreasonable." - GMANews.TV (http://www.gmanews.tv/story/87088/Rice-prices-soar-P40-per-kilo-in-Quezon-province)

NAIA officials find pest in mangoes from Thailand
03/27/2008 | 03:22 PM

MANILA, Philippines - Officials of the Bureau of Plant Industry discovered Wednesday that seized mangoes from Thailand were infested with pests that attack the fruit's seeds.

Last Saturday, BPI personnel stationed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) seized the illegal cargo containing the fruit.

Laboratory tests showed that the confiscated mangoes were attacked by mango seed or nut weevil (sternochaetes mangiferae), said Luben Marasigan, officer in charge of the BPI Plant Quarantine Services Unit at the NAIA.

According to Marasigan, the pest which attacks mango seeds has not been discovered in any kind of native Philippine fruit.

He added that the seed weevil usually thrives in mangoes that were grown in Indonesia and Malaysia.

"The (mango) specimen we tested at the laboratory showed the presence of the insect, which has patches on some portions of its head and wings and has a snout used to pierce through seeds," Marasigan told GMANews.TV in a phone interview.

The shipment arrived in the country from Bangkok, Thailand, on board a Kuwait Airlines flight KU-411 last March 22. Initial investigation showed that a certain “Mr. Garcia" owned the cargo, he added.

The mangoes, weighing around 275 kilograms, were found inside six boxes and two suitcases that were left near the airport's conveyor.

NAIA’s customs officials held the cargo because it did not have proper importation documents.

Marasigan said that all imported plant products and materials must have a clearance from the BPI as prescribed by the Agriculture Department's Administrative Order Number 18, Series of 2000.

Aside from mangoes, plant products from and materials for growing citrus fruits, sugar cane, and bananas are covered by the DA order.

A phytosanitary certificate that should be issued by the country of origin is also required before the shipment is allowed to pass through customs officials.


For burning

After slicing open some 800 confiscated mangoes, Marasigan discovered eight pieces to be carrying pests either in their larval, pupal, or adult stages.

The mangoes will be burned on Friday, he added.

"Nagpadala na ako ng letter sa director namin requesting na sunugin na yung mga mangga by (Friday) morning siguro (I have sent a letter of request to our director, asking for the immediate burning of the mangoes)," Marasigan said.

He said that had the cargo been allowed to pass through, the pest could definitely pose a threat to the local agriculture industry.

"We have reminded all our personnel and officials to be vigilant with incoming articles, especially mangoes, so that we could immediately dispose them," he said. - Mark Merueñas, GMANews

baka may plano sila sirain ang mango industry natin...

Not only na dapat sunugin. Demand for refund or ibalik nain lahat nung mangoes sa kanila. I bet it's documented naman.

What is up with the Thais? Kala ko pinakamatindi na ang mga Pilipino pagdating sa crab mentality

Bohol rice farmers 'forced to eat camote'
04/03/2008 | 05:05 AM
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CEBU, Philippines - Bohol farmers affiliated with the Cebu-based Farmers Development Center Inc. (Fardec) on Wednesday said that while they are producing rice for Central Visayas, they end up eating camote (sweet potato) allegedly due to the lack of government support, Sun.Star Cebu reported Thursday.

It quoted Fardec executive director Estrella Catarata as saying that one rice trader monopolizes the buying of palay and the selling of rice in Bohol. She said farmers are helpless because most of them owe this rice trader money.

The report said the trader is also accused of using agents and canvassers to strengthen his monopoly of the trade. Sun.Star Cebu is withholding the name of the trader pending his comment.

Catarata said that in planting rice, farmers need to spend for one hectare at least P18,745: P900 for the rice seeds, P6,000 for 14-14-14 fertilizer, P4,900 for urea, P30 for the transport of fertilizer and P500 for chemicals against pests, and P6,415 for labor.

Catarata said that if the P1,080 for thresher and blower and P1,800 for irrigation fee is added, the total rice production cost of P21,625 will be shouldered by the farmer, who is able to harvest only 60 sacks of palay worth P28,800.

Because the farmer has to share one-fourth of his harvest, equivalent to P7,200, to the landlord, he stands to get only P21,600 as gross income. After deducting the production cost, she said, farmers end up with a loss of P25.

Catarata said that if there is a projected shortfall of rice, Fardec suggests that government move toward self-reliance. The group recommends:

- Boosting local food production through sustainable agricultural practices;

- Preserving land for staple crops production instead of encouraging land use and crop conversions;

- Rehabilitating land destroyed by chemical farming and shifting back to organic farming;

- Preserving, protecting and propagating community seed banking of traditional rice varities rather than promoting “terminator" seeds such as BT rice, BT corn and other hybrid varieties that are chemically dependent, environmentally harmful and unsafe for human consumption; and

- Making the National Food Authority (NFA) the lead agency in the procurement of local rice produce of all farmers at relatively higher prices and regulating distribution and marketing so that monopoly traders and cartels cannot control it.

Catarata said farmers are not buying hybrid seeds from the Department of Agriculture because the seeds cannot be recycled and are high-priced and dependent on chemicals.

Department of Agriculture (DA) 7 Director Ricardo Oblena, however, said farmers should shift to hybrid rice so their production will double from 60 sacks per hectare to 120 sacks.

Eduardo Alama, chief of the DA 7 technical services division, said the government, through their agency, is implementing projects that can increase rice production.

Among these projects are the restoration and rehabilitation of irrigation systems, provision of quality genetic materials (hybrid and inbred rice certified seeds) at subsidized price, construction of more farm-to-market roads, construction of post-harvest drying facilities and training farmers on the best rice production practices.

Catarata’s report of a rice monopoly in Bohol supported the allegations of Teresa Alegado, president of the Grains Confederation of the Philippines, that palay buyers and rice millers are creating an artificial shortage to increase the price of rice. - Sun.Star www.gmanews.tv

Nationwide corn production program launched

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has issued Executive Order 710 mandating the nationwide adoption of a corn-based production program.

Simply called Farmer-Scientists Training Program (FSTP), it is an agricultural Research, Development and Extension (RDD) strategy involving primarily the changing of or improving knowledge, skills, and attitudes of farmers engaged in crops such as corn, rice, vegetable, and animals in a corn-based production system to adopt scientific methods of farming.

It basically aims to improve farmers’ income and quality of life above poverty level. It is intended for the small farmers to understand and learn the scientific methods of managing all available resources in maximizing food production through the various options that will be made available.

The FSTP was conceived and initially undertaken in Argao, Cebu, on July 15, 1994, by Dr. Romulo Davide, now professor emeritus of UP Los Baños.

Part I (1994-1996) of the program was funded by the National Agriculture and Fisheries Council (NAFC); Part 2 (1996-1999) by the Bureau of Agricultural Research research grants as part of Dr. Davide’s Gawad Saka Award as the 1994 Outstanding Agricultural Scientist; and Parts 3 and 4 (1999-2005) by BAR and Ginintuang Masaganang Ani-Regional Field Unit7.

The FSTP has demonstrated that small marginalized farmers can be empowered with scientific knowledge of farming to produce more than enough corn for food with surplus to sell, along with their production of vegetables, fruits, and livestock, resulting in farmers’ increased income by more than 100 percent, and thereby benefiting not only their families but also their local governments and communities.

The expanded program will be jointly implemented by the Department of Agriculture as lead agency, Department of Agrarian Reform, Department of Science and Technology, Department of Interior and Local Government, UP Los Baños, state colleges and universities, and other concerned agencies such as non-government organizations.

President Arroyo said that the nationwide adoption of the FSTP is in line with the government’s goal to develop at least two million hectares of new agribusiness lands for the creation of at least two million jobs. The program will cover all upland areas where farmers who grow corn and other crops for food are still living in poverty and hunger. Priority farmers are those from the 10 priority provinces under the government’s Hunger Mitigation Program. www.mb.com.ph

ADB blamed for rice crisis in Philippines

2 April 2008

Loan conditions imposed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) are blamed for lifting measures that protect the farm sector.

Advocates of food sovereignty have blamed the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for a looming rice shortage. The Asia Pacific Network on Food Sovereignty (APNFS) told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that the ADB's loan conditions have pressured the government to "deregulate and privatize" agriculture. Furthermore, APNFS argued that the ADB continues to insist that the government "give up its quantitative restrictions on rice imports", a measure that protects the farm sector.

In the Grain Sector Development Program loan issued in 2000, the ADB pushed for the privatization of the National Food Authority and insisted on unrestricted rice importation to be replaced with tariffs on imported rice. The loan was then canceled after the government of the Philippines failed to meet these conditions. Representatives from APNFS argue that while the Philippines was among the world's top rice producers it was also a net importer. The rice shortage has led to allegations of rice hoarding and price increases in a country that was once rice-sufficient. Organizations like APNFS are calling on the ADB to "reform its conditions according to the needs of the country it would like to help.

Runaway population growth factor in rice crisis—solon

By TJ Burgonio
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 22:11:00 03/30/2008

MANILA, Philippines—It's the population too, stupid.

To avert a rice crisis, the government should not only address the dwindling hectarage of rice lands, but also arrest the expanding population, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said on Sunday.

Lagman, chair of the House committee on appropriations, said that the population growth rate of 2.36 percent "outpaces'' the annual growth in rice production of 1.9 percent recorded from 1990 to 2000.

"The country’s inordinately huge population growth rate (PGR) threatens food security and aggravates the looming rice shortage,'' the lawmaker, an advocate of population control, said in a statement.

"The politics of rice is a numbers' game -- the number of mouths to feed and the number on the price tag,'' he added.

The population in 2007 was pegged at 88.7 million, and is projected to rise to 90.4 million in 2008.

For starters, Lagman said the government should prioritize the approval of a House bill on reproductive health, responsible parenthood, family planning and population management, which he authored.

"No amount of bountiful harvests can adequately feed the growing multitude of Filipinos,'' he said.

Experts blamed the dwindling rice lands, caused by the conversion of these lands into subdivisions and golf courses, for the shortage of rice supply in the market.

But officials of the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) admitted that rice production had been increasing, but could not catch up with growing population.

Lagman further pointed out that while it had high rice production, the Philippines would have to import rice because of its growing population.

"While the Philippines ’ rice production is almost twice that of Thailand, the latter’s PGR (population growth rate) is only 1.4 percent,'' he said.

"Thailand’s lower population growth rate makes it a rice exporter, while the Philippines, which has a much bigger rice production, is a rice importer,'' he added.

The lawmaker said that Filipinos consumed less rice per capita compared with nationals of other countries with similar levels of income and economic development because rice in the Philippines was costly.

In 2001, rice consumption per capita totaled 109 kilograms in Thailand, 149 kg in Indonesia, 150 kg in Bangladesh, 165 kg in Vietnam, 169 kg in Cambodia, 213 kg in Myanmar, and only 95 kg in the Philippines, he said.

"The higher price of rice in the country results in less rice consumption and poorer nutrition especially among children,'' Lagman said.

Amid calls for a moratorium on land conversion, Palawan Rep. Abraham Mitra reminded the government that there has been a law that banned land conversion.

Executive Order No. 363, issued in 1997, specifically bans the conversion of irrigated and irrigable rice lands. It remains in effect, according to Mitra.

The lawmaker said the law should only be "dusted off,'' and updated to "ure the official amnesia of the law.''

"As early as 10 years ago, we have already put a firewall around agriculturally productive areas so these won’t be breached by those who would like to convert them for other uses,” he said.



Our uncontrolled population growth must be playing a VERY BIG role.

By the way,

BBC World just featured the Philippines and the rice shortage that is happening. They were focusing on the country's rapid urbanization against agricultural sustainability. A dilemma that we are facing.

RP's agricultural productivity has been declining since the 70s
KARL G. OMBION, Bulatlat
04/04/2008
GMA News
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/87776/RPs-agricultural-productivity-has-been-declining-since-the-70s

MANILA, Philippines - Amid recent reports of another impending rice crisis, a local university-based agricultural economist said he is not surprised by the reports because “there has been a prolonged and continuous decline in Philippine agricultural productivity since the early 1970s."

Dr. Romeo Teruel, research director of the University of St. La Salle, said that rampant poverty and hunger in a number of regions in the country, especially in Western Visayas, can be attributed to the decreasing agricultural activity and declining agricultural productivity.

“Instability of rice supply, as in other vital food crops, can be explained easily by the stagnating agricultural production in the country; and on the other hand, its growing dependence on importation," said Teruel, citing recent international research studies he was involved in.

Teruel said this trend is quite ironic, especially in view of the fact that in terms of promoting nationwide economic development, agriculture is supposedly an important sector to deal with, as it is the predominant source of income and employment in the country.

“Agricultural sector accounts for approximately 20 percent of the gross domestic product and about 14 percent of the country’s export earnings. It also employs almost half of the labor force of the country, thus the dependence of the majority of the rural poor on the agricultural sector as the major source of livelihood remains high," he said.

But since 1974, Teruel stressed, agricultural production continued to stagnate, growing with an average of 1 percent a year. He added that while the trend growth rate was 1.4 percent from 1990 to 1995, it declined to 0.6 percent from years 1996 to 2000.

He also said that the past and present agricultural situation seems to suggest that the Philippine agricultural sector is lagging behind other agricultural economies in terms of comparative competitiveness.

“The Philippines has been transformed into a net agricultural importing country during the last decade. From being a net exporter in the 1970s and 1980s, the Philippines registered an agricultural trade deficit from $0.257 billion in 1991-1994 to $3.347 billion in 1995 to 1998. The Philippines was also transformed into from a net food exporting country to a net food importer as of 1995, with an average net food trade deficit of $0.222 billion," he said.

In his recent study entitled “Regional Productivity and Convergence: The Case of Philippine Agriculture," Teruel revealed there is a growing disparity among the country’s 15 regions in terms of productivity.

He said that Luzon regions, particularly central Luzon, are found more productive than regions in the Visayas and Mindanao.

He also noted that in the Visayas and Mindanao, Western Visayas and Bicol posted the lowest agricultural productivity and decreasing agricultural activities, citing as major factors the lack of roads, poor rural electrification, lack of irrigation, less high-yielding variety crops, less government support for research and technology development, technology development and extension work.

Teruel added that there is no trend of convergence or diminution of economic inequality among the regions, but instead a growing dispersion, leaving backward and poorer regions further behind.

“Unless the current trend in Philippine agriculture is reversed, the already prolonged and continuous decline in our agriculture will only worsen the food insecurity in the country," he concluded.

Teruel’s studies draw affirmation from the organizations of marginalized sectors in the province, as they warned of possible food riot and anarchy in urban and rural areas should the government fails to avert the reported rice shortage and skyrocketing of the prices of basic commodities and public services.

In an interview, Merlyn Prajes, vice chairperson of the urban poor alliance Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay), said, “It is not impossible for the present rice shortage to develop into a full blown crisis because of the high prices of rice and other basic commodities on one hand, and on the other hand, the continued slump of agricultural production."

In fact, Prajes stressed, this scenario is already taking shape steadily though slowly in small scale, in a number of areas in the region and country, where poor people are forced to steal and loot some warehouses and establishments because they could not bear going hungry or scampering for food for days.

“No matter what and how the government justifies the food insecurity in the country, it cannot hide the fact that rice and other basic food items in the province and country are getting scarcer and expensive due to the collapsing agricultural production in the country and the people’s lack of capacity to buy what they need," Prajes said.

The urban poor leader noted that in all markets the prices of rice, fish, meat and other basic consumer goods have recently soared, making them inaccessible to common families who are mostly among the urban poor.

She also scored the government’s inability to curb the food crisis and rise in prices of prime commodities.

“First, because they are just the result of government’s bias against developing and protecting the country’s agriculture from the onslaughts of imported cheap agricultural products; and second, its inutility to control the rapacity of the big food traders, importers-exporters, and transnational agri-business companies," she said.

Prajes’ sentiments were echoed by Isidro Castillo, spokesperson of the National Federation of Sugar Workers (NFSW) who said that “the rice crisis had happened in the 1970s, 1980s, and mid-1990s, and is bound to happen again and again because the government gives more premium to production of high value crops for export than food production for internal food security."

The problem of food insecurity is compounded by the people’s lack of purchasing power due to massive unemployment, landlessness and lack of basic social services from the government, Castillo said.

Castillo said that the last time that Negros had a serious rice crisis was in the middle of the 1990s. “That situation was dreaded by many because people in urban and rural areas were forced to steal, loot warehouses and commercial establishments, ate in restaurants and eateries without paying, and stormed local government units demanding food support and farm implements; there was practically anarchy," Castillo said.

He said the situation has not improved since then. “In fact, it has even worsened despite claims by the local government units that they have been doing much in their basic services, employment generation, and sustainable agricultural production," he added.

In a monocrop sugar-based economy like Negros, the food situation does not improve and is unlikely to make any progress because much of the lands are in the hands of the few, and cash-crop production is geared mainly for market and exports, Castillo stressed.

Prajes said that unless the government gives focus on employment generation, protection of workers’ security of tenure, delivery of basic services, and clamp down on exploitative businesses, the rice shortage and higher prices of basic commodities will only further worsen things.

Castillo affirmed Prajes and added that “the only way out of this food crisis is for the government to start seriously carrying out genuine land reform, give provision for support services, and undertake rural industrialization."

Rice crisis traced to low productivity, high pop'n growth
By LALA RIMANDO
abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=113334

The Arroyo administration needs to invest in farmers’ productivity and raise their level of profitability to be competitive, a leading agricultural economist said.

Arsenio Balisacan, former agriculture secretary and currently professor of economics at the University of the Philippines, and director of the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture, told abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak that government has to invest in appropriate irrigation systems for the farmers and link them up with the markets.

“There is no way we can get our farmers out of poverty and be competitive in the world if we don’t invest in their productivity,” Balisacan said.

He added that government needs professionals in the agriculture bureaucracy “who can appreciate and support continuity of programs.”

Balisacan traced the roots of the current rice crisis to the country’s fast growing population and low productivity. This is exacerbated by the soaring food prices worldwide.

“Demand for food is growing fast not because our incomes are growing -- our incomes have not been growing as fast as our neighbors, so we have not shifted to other crops – but because our population is growing at 2.3 percent a year. That’s almost two million additional mouths to feed every year,” he said.

“Our agricultural land is fixed. So the only way to catch up if we want the price of rice to remain stable is to increase productivity on a sustained basis. That means increasing farmers’ output with the same amount of inputs. You do that through investments in research and development, proper irrigation, proper understanding of the needs of the farmers,” Balisacan explained.


The rest of the interview follows:


What led us to this current rice situation?

This is a global problem, not only a local one. On the demand side, there are sharp increases in growing economies like India and China. As income rises, the usual consumption pattern is to shift to more expensive food like meat. It then pulled the price of wheat and then corn and soybeans, and other feedstock for animals.

Attracted by the higher price of these crops, farmers allocated more land for planting them, in the process eating up the land used for planting rice. So the price of rice also increased.

This sharp increase in food prices is unprecedented in the last 20 to 25 years. Four years ago, the world price for rice was in the order of $250 per metric ton. If we’re seeing $700 now, things are very serious.

The second factor is the price of energy, which affects the structural side of supply. Agriculture is supported by energy. The production of fertilizers, tractors, chemicals are all dependent on energy. Then the high price of oil encouraged substitutes so more are planting crops for biofuels instead of for food. There are also intermittent ones, like the drought in Australia, frost in Latin America, and other weather disturbances.


Why is the Philippines becoming an icon in discussions about the world food situation?

We are a major rice importer. And when exporting countries see a depletion of stocks, they see an opportunity to hold on to their stocks for now until they can sell it at a higher price. The world is reacting, and so is the Philippines.

Rice has remained our staple food. Demand for food is growing fast not because our incomes are growing -- our incomes have not been growing as fast as our neighbors, so we have not shifted to other crops – but because our population is growing at 2.3 percent a year. That’s almost two million additional mouths to feed every year.

Our agricultural land is fixed. So the only way to catch up if we want the price of rice to remain stable is to increase productivity on a sustained basis. That means increasing farmers’ output with the same amount of inputs. You do that through investments in research and development, proper irrigation, proper understanding of the needs of the farmers.


What should be done to increase and sustain farmers’ productivity?

We need to invest in research and development, and we need professionals in the agriculture bureaucracy who can appreciate and support continuity of programs.

For decades, we have not put enough money on developing technologies, in understanding and generating technologies that are responsive to the constraints raised by farmers. In some cases, the government has good intentions but unfortunately it does not understand how things work in practice.

The irony is that we know our problem. The scientific and economic communities have well studied the agricultural sector. There are so many studies with almost the same recommended solutions.

No way are we going to make our farmers get out of poverty and be competitive in the world if we don’t invest in their productivity. And that involves raising their level of profitability by investing in appropriate technology, getting the appropriate irrigation systems for them, getting those networks that they could link up to the markets.


What about having IRRI and the PhilRice in the country?

There is a wrong appreciation of what farming technology is all about. IRRI (International Resource Rice Institute) produces generic technologies. From IRRI, the foreigners do their own further tests at the country and regional levels.

Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam have been good at it. They come to IRRI, learn technology which they developed further in their own fields. They acclimatize the seeds and tinker with it until they develop a variety that is fitted and will survive under a particular stressful condition and the soil configurations in their own countries. That’s the role of our local version, the PhilRice (Philippine Rice Institute).

In the Philippines, we cannot have a rice program across the entire country. We’re an archipelago. The climate, soil, distance to market centers, presence of infrastructure support is very varied. Farming technology in Ilocos is not expected to work in Samar where there are always typhoons, or in Mindanao where there are no typhoons.

Agriculture is not like manufacturing where you produce in a self-contained environment. In agriculture, the agro-climatic conditions are varied, so the science community has to tinker.

Before modern genetic engineering, it usually takes 10 years to do develop one variety that can be commercialized. Now it has been shortened to three to five years. But our politicians and the bureaucracy are looking for immediate results because they stay only for three years.

We were early starters (in rice technology). Then we got distracted by political process and did not have the resolve of going back and start the building process again.

Besides, apart from R&D, there is also need to address the complementary issues like education, health, rural and irrigation development, lending. At this point, we are reaping years of neglect. These have caught up with us.


How much will these cost us?

There is no need for new money. It’s just a matter of re-orienting our ways of doing things. If we spend billions in subsidies that are never sustainable, why not use the same amount of money to develop research systems that are responsive to the needs of the farmers? These are all very doable.


You were in government once. Why are these not being addressed up to now?

There is little appreciation of investing for the long term. What has been happening in the past decades is patchwork.

Traditionally, the government would increase production by simply adding or increasing inputs, like subsidizing fertilizers and pesticides to induce farmers to increase production, subsidizing hybrid rice seeds, building big dams, giving output subsidy to the [National Food Authority], giving money for post-harvest facilities and cloud seeding. So yield may increase but only while the subsidies are there.

If there are no subsidies, the farmers shoulder the loss. In the end, these don’t necessarily translate into more income for the farmers.

It has been band-aid economics. The wound is still there. And the wound is now a cancer because we have identified this problem decades ago. This rice situation should be a wake up call to us. Even if this global crisis will disappear, our crisis will not disappear.

Mars sets up Davao cocoa model farm
http://www.mb.com.ph/BSNS20080405121041.html
Melody M. Aguiba

A 10 to 15-hectare "best practices" farm center has been set up in Malagos, Davao City by the world’s largest chocolate maker Mars Inc. in an aim to raise Philippines’ cocoa value to $ 300 million.

Called center of excellence found at the Fuentespina family’s Malagos Garden, the Mars Cocoa development center (MCDC) aims to set up a foundation for teaching farmers the know-how in maximizing yield.

"While the Philippines currently produces 5,000 tons of cocoa, it has the potential to produce 100,000 tons by 2020, making it the second biggest farm export-earner, next to coconut. Mars’ unique expertise in ‘adaptive research’…makes it qualified to demonstrate cocoa sustainability," said Howard Shapiro, Mars global director of plant science and external research.

Best practices components that will be imparted to farmers through the MCDC are germplasm evaluation and breeding, farm rehabilitation methods (such as through side and chupon grafting), good agricultural practices, integrated pest management, cocoa quality management, and post-harvest practices (including drying and fertilization).

Peter van Grinsven, Mars sustainability cocoa supply manager, said cocoa price in the world market has been constantly increasing by three percent yearly as emerging economies like China and India have increased consumption for cocoa luxury goods.

On the other hand, supply has been constricting as production from good producers like Africa has been declining.

A contributor to increasing chocolate consumption is consumers’ recognition of the anti-oxidant content from flavanols in cocoa which makes it ideal for cardiovascular health.

Van Grinsven said the Philippines has a ready market in its Asian neighbors that have cocoa processing plants including Malaysia, Japan, and Indonesia which import a combined 220,000 metric tons of good quality fermented beans from west Africa, source of 70 percent of world’s cocoa.

The Philippines has competitive advantage over Africa in this trade considering its proximity to these countries that require less shipping cost.

A multi-sector supported program called the Sustainable Cocoa Development in the Philippines targets increased production through intercropping of cocoa with coconut on a total of 2.4 million hectares of presently monocropped land.

"With each cocoa tree yielding an average of 1.5 kilos at a farm gate price of $ 2.4 per kilo, a farmer tending one hectare of coconut inter-planted with 600 cocoa trees can earn an additional $ 2,160 a year or 400 percent more than from coconut alone. This answers the rural population’s need for a cash crop," said Shapiro.

One farmer is expected to maintain efficiently two to three hectares of cocoa land intercropped with coconut. Mixed cropping also offers more income stability to farmers compared to mono-cropping.

If at least 10 percent of mono-cropped coconut lands are planted with cocoa, farmers can produce more than 200,000 metric tons for cocoa export which can generate $ 300 million in export earnings.

A 2.4 hectare farm can support a family of six members which will in turn support 600,000 people with their increased income, according to Mars.

Hey Pinoys, remember the plan of Marikina folks to turn the skin of the giant janitor fish dumped in Markinia river, into a leather material for shoes.

Nabasa ko na gagawin din yun ng thailand. Ibig sabihin idea yun ng mga pinoy, tapos gagayahin nila. Nag shopping ako sa Pinoy Store dito at pati nata de coco ginaya na nila at mas pinaganda pa yung packaging. Sa susunod yung kalamansi na ang gagayahin nyan.

Nanawagan ako sa mga pinoy producer ng bottled and canned products that are being exported in the states. Please lang pagandahin nyo yung packaging at print sa packaging kasi ginagawa at nilalampasan ng isang bansa dyan yung mga produkto nyo.

Rice crisis ‘imminent’ a long time ago
By Conrad M. Cariño, Senior Desk Editor
Manila Times
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/apr/06/yehey/top_stories/20080406top3.html

It is quite ironic that the Philippines, with its Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) and host to the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), has never been rice self-sufficient for the most part of the last 20 years.

While some argue that the Philippines is not blessed like Thailand, India, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia and Bangladesh, with plains and deltas more highly suitable for rice farming, local experts believe the country could still attain rice self-sufficiency, making imports unnecessary.

In fact, the country even exported rice when then-President Ferdinand Marcos implemented the highly successful “Masagana 99” program. The government carried it out even when a rice crisis was not imminent.

Some of the problems causing our low rice production even have immediate solutions on hand. And many causes of low rice production could have been avoided if the government had foreseen the present crunch in world rice supply.

Food Minister Tanchangco

One of those who foresaw today’s world rice supply problem is Jesus Tanchangco, the former Food Minister of Marcos. More than a year ago, Tanchangco was already making statements that the country could not entirely rely on imported rice to solve domestic production shortages.

“Taking the world supply of rice, for example, statistics show that of the total quantity of rice produced worldwide, less than 3 percent is being traded,” he said.

The former food minister said that a slight decrease in worldwide rice production, as low as 5 percent, would affect many rice-producing countries, including those that import the grain.

Many factors can affect worldwide rice production. IRRI President Robert Zeigler, in an interview with Agence France-Presse, cited “adverse weather in Bangladesh, pests and disease in Vietnam, and political problems in Myanmar” as factors that will make a dent on worldwide rice supply.

The Climate Change Group of IRRI also discovered that a drop of 1 degree centigrade in climate temperatures can result in a 10-percent drop in rice yields.

Before the country signed a deal to buy large quantities of rice from Vietnam, Sen. Mar Roxas had warned that “Thailand, which used to sell rice to the Philippines, could not commit to sell rice. Vietnam, for its part, said it could be able to sell only one-half of the total metric tons the Philippines used to buy.”

The Philippines-Vietnam agreement in March for the supply of 1.5 million MT of the grains has a clause stating “Vietnamese government agrees to sell, unless under circumstances of natural disaster and harvest loss,” which makes it possible for Vietnam to refuse to deliver rice to us.

For this year, the Philippines will import up to two million metric tons of rice, even if rice harvests this year reach over 16 million MT.

Avoiding imports

Rice importations in this crisis could have been avoided had the government invested more in the agriculture sector than spending the money on rice imports.

Palawan’s Rep. Abraham Mitra last year suggested that the billions of pesos used to import rice should be allocated to increase the domestic production.

He even pointed out that a fraction of the import funds can be used to improve post-harvest facilities.

Post-harvest losses in rice hovers around 14 to 25 percent. This means that if post-harvest losses are addressed, there may be no need to import rice, because according to the Department of Agriculture, the country today is 90-percent self-sufficient in rice.

Felino Garcia Jr., a farmer leader in Nueva Vizcaya, even said the government subsidy to propagate high-yielding hybrid rice seeds is miniscule compared to the billions of pesos spent for rice imports.

At present, the government shoulders half of the cost of hybrid seeds bought by farmers through the GMA (Ginintuang Masaganang Ani) Rice Program.

Hybrid seeds can improve yields by about 30 percent. There are even hybrid rice farmers who report palay (unhusked rice) yields of above 10 MT per hectare per cropping on irrigated rice fields, which is very high compared to the 3.49 MT national average, also for irrigated lands.

Flawed policies

Largely to blame for today’s rice crisis is the flawed policy of past administrations not to spend heavily on agriculture to make the country self-sufficient.

Notably, when Marcos fled the country in 1986, the government’s buffer stocks for rice was 900,000 MT, making importations unnecessary. It was only in 1973, during the Marcos regime, that rice had to be imported because typhoons that hit Central Luzon in 1972 destroyed much of the expected harvest.

Since 1988, the country was only rice-self sufficient for a short break—when Roberto Sebastian was Agriculture secretary.

Since then, the country has been importing rice. What could have possibly gone wrong?

Arsenio Balisacan, a respected figure in academe and agriculture circles who heads the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research and Agriculture (SEARCA), believes that the government’s investment in the agriculture sector is inappropriately low.

“The country’s investments in agricultural research and related activities have remained at a low level of 0.1 percent of the country’s Gross Value Added [GVA] in agriculture over the past 10 years. This is far below the 1-percent level recommended for developing countries and very much lower than the 2 to 3 percent observed in many countries,” Balisacan said in a paper about the state of Philippine agriculture.

Balisacan said that China’s investment in agriculture in the mid-2000s was 0.8 percent of GVA, which explains why that country is now an agricultural production powerhouse.

Spending per farmer

In an interview with The Manila Times, an official of the Agriculture department said the country spends only P1,000 per farmer, which is low compared to the P3,000 to P4,000 per farmer spent by countries like Thailand, Japan and other developed countries.

Likewise, much has to be done to develop agriculture infrastructure, for example, in irrigation. Data from the National Irrigation Administration show that in 2006, 705,000 hectares were served by national irrigation systems out of the 3.12 million hectares of irrigable lands, which are mostly rice. If there is any consolation, the total area served by irrigation systems as of 2006 is 1.428 million hectares, because of the contribution of communal systems (549,000 hectares) and private irrigation (174,000 hectares).

In contrast, the Marcos administration under the Masagana 99 attained a target of 1.6 million hectares of farms for irrigation, of which 1.3 million hectares were covered by national systems. The rest was served by communal irrigation systems.


__________________________________________


Special Report : food security
Rice sufficiency not impossible, experts say
By Conrad M. Cariño, Senior Desk Editor
Manila Times

(Editor’s note: In the first part, the author writes of the Marcos “Masagana 99” program. The administration pursued it even if a rice crisis was not “imminent.” It made the Philippines a rice-exporting nation. The threat of a rice-shortage crisis has always been a threat because the country has not been self-sufficient in rice for most of the last two decades. This is owing to wrong macroeconomic government policies on agriculture.)

Last of two parts

With low investments in agriculture, most especially rice farms, the palay yields per hectare hovers from three to four tons in non-irrigated farms, with the higher range produced in irrigated lands.

In China, palay yields of 10 to 12 tons per hectare, per cropping are not unusual. China was once an importer of rice, but strived for self-sufficiency by spending heavily on agriculture.

With the government investing so little in agriculture, it is no wonder that poverty is very high among agricultural households in the Philippines.

“Poverty incidence among agricultural households is about four times that in the rest of the population. While only a little more than one-third of the labor force is in agriculture, two of every three destitute persons are dependent directly on agriculture for employment and sustenance,” said Arsenio Balisacan, head of the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research and Agriculture (SEARCA).

Growing population

Compounding the lack of rice self-sufficiency is the country’s growing population and the dwindling supply of arable lands to plant rice. This combination can be explosive, since an increasing population means more farming areas have to be developed for human habitation.

Rodelio Cataring, the technical assistant to the director of the Bureau of Soils and Water Management, said rice is best planted on arable plains or flat lands, and that most of the two to four million hectares of idle lands that the government can open up for new agricultural activities are mostly on hilly or upland areas that may not be suitable for planting rice on a large scale.

While the conversion of rice lands for commercial, industrial or residential use can be checked by the issuance of a presidential decree or an act of Congress, arresting population growth by contraceptives is a very sensitive issue in largely Catholic Philippines.

“While population growth rates declined substantially to well below 2 percent a year in such countries as Thailand, Indonesia, China, and Vietnam, the rate in the Philippines hardly changed; it is still at a high level of 2.3 percent a year,” Balisacan said.

Rice self-sufficiency

Nevertheless, there is no reason to believe that the country could not attain rice self-sufficiency.

In fact, the government’s target for attaining rice self-sufficiency is just three to four years away, and is not an impossible dream.

Frisco Malabanan, director of the GMA (Ginintuang Masaganang Ani) Rice Program, said a 95-percent self-sufficiency in rice is targeted in 2009 or 2010. Today, the country’s rice self-sufficiency is already about 90 percent.

Among the reasons why the country can achieve rice self-sufficiency is the availability of viable technologies that can improve rice yields, and the country’s hosting PhilRice and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).

Of the many available “modern” rice-growing technologies in the Philippines, hybrid and certified seeds are fast gaining popularity over inbred varieties.

On hybrid seeds, Malabanan said about 300,000 hectares of rice farms now use hybrid seeds, while the use of genetically modified rice seeds is still “under study.”

Noel Mamicpic, vice-president of hybrid rice producer SL Agritech Corp., said if the total area planted to hybrid rice reaches 800,000 hectares, that will increase local rice production by 3 million metric tons, enough to negate the need to import rice.

The only disadvantage of hybrid seeds is that the mature plants cannot be sourced for planting materials, unlike certified or in-bred seeds.

Certified seeds can boost rice yields from 20 percent to 30 percent.

Besides propagating hybrid and certified seeds, the Agriculture department is set to jumpstart a program that will reduce chemical fertilizer use in rice farms by 50 percent, through the use of compost, bio-fertilizers and seed inoculants. This protocol can also increase yields from 30 percent to 50 percent.

Farm technology

That program, called Tamang Abono, belies the claims of critics who accuse Agriculture of favoring chemical farming.

Likewise, PhilRice and IRRI are collaborating on rice varieties that can withstand submergence in water for at least two weeks.

The PhilRice’s website says scientists from both rice-research institutes are also identifying rice varieties that can “either avoid, tolerate or resist heat stress.”

The experiments of PhilRice and IRRI on water- and heat-tolerant rice-varieties address the possible impact of climate change on rice production.

The good news is the techno-demo rice farms of the Agriculture department using the various technologies to increase production are yielding between 5 to 6 metric tons of palay per hectare, per cropping. There is even a farmer in Nueva Ecija whose farm hit a record 17 metric tons per hectare, per cropping using hybrid seeds.

Higher levels of rice production could make rice farming a more profitable venture, which will stop farmers from shifting to other crops, particularly biofuels.

Better rice production will also make farmers a more creditworthy, viable borrower for banks and financial institutions.

Opportunities abound

In a forum, Agriculture Secretary Arturo Yap said the present crisis being faced by the country holds many opportunities for farmers.

“Facing these grave threats gives the golden opportunities for farmers to better their incomes,” Yap said.

This remains to be seen. But President Gloria Arroyo’s positive response to the present rice crisis, and her promise of releasing billions to support the rice industry and other agricultural activities and launching the FIELDS programs, is laudable. FIELDS stands for what the government aims to provide farmers: fertilizer, irrigation, extension and education, loan and insurance, dryers and other post-harvest facilities, and seeds.

While those developments are good news for rice farmers, the specter of the fertilizer scam and the recently uncovered swine scam casts a doubt if government is serious in implementing programs without graft or corruption.

However, if much of the large funds released by the President to support rice production is spent as intended, then rice self-sufficiency can be attained. Besides, much of the technology to improve rice yields is readily available, and the unabated conversion of agricultural lands can be stopped by a presidential action.

Balisacan said, “To win the war against chronic food insecurity and poverty, government must put its resources where its mouth is. It must invest in agriculture and rural development and must improve governance relating to it and the rest of the economy.”

There is a big possibility that the rice farmers income will be augmented if they sell the palay husk so that it can be converted to electricity via chemical process.

Venture to get power from palay husks
By Charlie Lagasca
Sunday, April 6, 2008
http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Headlines&p=49&type=2&sec=24&aid=20080405161

GAMU, Isabela – This central Isabela town, which is a major rice producer, can be self sufficient in energy from bio-waste products, according to a group of Chinese investors.

The Chinese businessmen believe the town can be self sufficient in electricity generated from the tons of palay husks it throws away.

The group inked an agreement with the municipal government led by Mayor Fernando Cumigad to initially invest in a P50-million plant capable of producing some 400 megawatts of electricity from rice husks.

If successful, Cumigad said, the rice husk-generated electricity will be then sold to commercial electric firms as additional power for the Luzon grid.

Cumigad said the Chinese investors found the rice-producing town very conducive to this kind of project due to the abundant supply of rice husks.

“Unlike in other electricity projects involving rice husks, there will be no burning of the rice husks while generating electricity. Instead a chemical process is to be applied to make it break down chemically and convert to power,” Cumigad said.

The project proponents initially foresee that they will be able to generate around 400 MW for the Luzon grid on a trial or pilot project basis before they would go full blast with the venture.

“There would not be any shortage of raw materials because the plant operators estimate that the number of rice husks being produced in the town is more than enough to support the project,” Cumigad said.

Aside from the foreseen savings in electric power as well as local taxes which the municipality may generate, Cumigad said the town will undoubtedly earn from the project through additional employment for its residents.

The anticipated plant using rice husks is among the efforts by local officials and the National Government to develop alternative fuel sources.

Others are the promotion of jathropa production, said to be the fuel of the future, as well as bio-ethanol production from sugarcane.

Arroyo orders nationwide adoption of corn-based farming

MANILA, Philippines - In the face of a rice crisis, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ordered Saturday all government agencies to adopt a nationwide corn-based farmer-scientists research, development and extension (RDE) training program (FSTP).

A Palace statement on Saturday night said Mrs Arroyo issued Executive Order 710 dated Feb. 27, pursuant to the Philippine development objectives of enhancing the economy's global competitiveness and alleviating poverty and hunger.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said Executive Order No. 710 was signed to carry out the administration's policy of focusing on agriculture as the engine of growth.

He added that the plan is mandated under the Medium Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP) of 2004-2010, which aims to develop at least two million hectares of new agribusiness lands for the creation of at least two million jobs.

Under the EO, the Department of Agriculture acts as the lead agency in coordination with the departments of agrarian reform, environment and natural resources, science and technology, interior and local government in nationwide adoption and implementation of the FSTP.

Ermita said the University of the Philippines in Los Baños, Laguna, would facilitate the enhancement of science and extension curricula of FSTP in the upland development program.

FSTP is an extension program that integrates agricultural research and development to enable the poor farmers, particularly those in upland areas, to grow multiple crops and engage in livestock and corn farming to increase their income.

It was first implemented in Argao, Cebu in 1994 and has been expanded province-wide in Cebu, and in towns of Siquijor, Negros Oriental, Leyte, Occidental Mindoro and Compostela Valley.

"Farmers living in the 6th, 5th and 4th class municipalities particularly the municipalities in the 10 priority provinces under the Hunger Mitigation Program will be given first priority under the project," the Palace said.

The Palace statement said the program allowed farmers to increase their income by more than 100 percent.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet will review Tuesday the country's overall rice program to ensure food security. - GMANews.TV

Current rice harvests give no assurance to bring down prices

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said there is no assurance the price of rice would go down with this month’s expected harvest from some of the country’s rice-producing provinces.

Yap, however, said the Department of Agriculture aims at stabilizing the price of the staple grain especially if the regions would attain their target productions.

"We cannot assure that, titingnan lang natin na mag-stabilize ‘yong supply. Kasi what you want to stop now is spiraling prices or jumping prices," said Yap.

The agriculture secretary apparently backtracked on an earlier statement he made during the National Food Summit on Friday.

Yap had predicted that the cost of rice will go down once the harvests from Nueva Ecija, Pangasinan, Isabela and Cagayan start coming in.

"Pag ‘yong apat na yan pumasok, makikita natin magso-soften up yung presyo, at least bababa rin yan...hindi ko mabibigay yung projection kasi delikado eh, baka pakuin ako dun sa presyo eh. Pero ang point ko what we're trying to do is, pag dumating ang supply, makikita natin magle-level off yan, baka bumaba...sa anong level hindi ko masasabi," he had said during the food summit..

Harvest volume may be low
Farmers in Isabela and Pangasinan feel the same. Even the rice traders and retailers were not convinced that the cost of rice will go down anytime soon. Aside from the high price of production implements and inputs, the harvest volume itself is low.

"Mahihirapan kasi, kasi ang taas na ng palay ngayon. Alam mo ngayon yong sariw ngayon is P16 na paano maibenta na mura ‘yong bigas?" said Lando Flores, a rice trader in Isabela.

"Noong inaasahan nilang umulan di po umulan nang sapat. Tapos nang dapat tumigil ang ulan dahil sa pag-aani na, saka naman po umulan din," said Dante Sinsano, vice president of Ambabue group of companies.

"Magkukulang kasi bumaba ang ani namin. Kulang pa sa pamilya," said Jon Orfina, a rice miller in Pangasinan.

NFA rice insufficient?
The price of commercial rice in the market ranges from P30 per kilo to P35 per kilo.

The rice from National Food Authority though cheaper at P18.25 due government subsidy, is seen as insufficient to supply the needs of even just poor families in the country.

Yap said as of the moment, most of the harvest in the provinces has yet to come in, an indication of the effects of La Nina phenomenon, or the abnormal volume of rainfall.

The agriculture head said the country is only 92 to 93 percent self sufficient in terms of rice production so the government still needs to import the commodity.

Experts reportedly however have previously estimated the country’s rice self-sufficiency at only 85 to 90 percent.

But Yap hopes that the Philippines will be 100 percent self-sufficient by 2010.

Irrigation fund probe
Yap admitted that he has received reports on the alleged anomalies in the irrigation funds.

He also said he welcomes any investigation to be conducted to trace where the billions of pesos allocated for the irrigation projects went.

The militant Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas Saturday urged a congressional inquiry into the questionable government allocation for irrigation projects.

KMP chairman Rafael Mariano said the Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap and the National Irrigation Authority should show where the P3 billion plus irrigation funds went.

The funds were released in two tranches—the first P500 million in January and the P2.6 billion in March 2007.

"The DA and the NIA now has at least P8.8 billion irrigation budget but (the agencies) are still hard put to explain where the funds went. Our chapters have been reporting since June 2007 that generally no irrigation works or repairs have been done in their provinces," Mariano said in a statement.

Another fund diverted to elections?
He said last year’s severe dry spell that hit rice granaries in northern parts of the country, including Isabela, Quirino, Cagayan, Nueva Vizcaya, Ilocos Norte, Kalinga and Tarlac but nothing was done.

"If the irrigation works have been made or repaired during that time then the dry spell last year would not have devastated so much crops in these provinces, which amounted to around P638 million," Mariano said.

The KMP official said they fear that the funds were diverted to the election campaign of the administration.

"We have to get to the bottom of this and an independent and thorough going probe should be launched by Congress," Mariano said. With a report from Atom Araullo ABS-CBN News and Brigette Mayor, ABS-CBN Regional Network Group
www.abs-cbnnews.com

P43B agri plan, a short-term solution to food crisis

By LALA RIMANDO
abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/topofthehour.aspx?StoryId=114129


In the rainless summer day in Pampanga, one thing poured: government promises to support and subsidize farmers.

All this happened at the National Food Summit, held last Friday, which caps a two-month long consultation of the national government with stakeholders in the agricultural sector, This includes local government officials, representatives of farmer and fisheries organizations, industry and professional organizations, and sectoral groups like consumers and transport organizations, academe and regional development councils.

Previously, members of the diplomatic and international donor community were asked for their inputs to the food summit.

Will the same formula of increasing support and government subsidies address the deep roots of the agriculture sector's problems?

In general, agricultural households are four times poorer than the rest of the population. Two out of every three poor persons are those who work in and depend directly for sustenance on agriculture.

The Asian Development Bank and the World Bank both recently warned against broad subsidies and price controls to counteract soaring food and energy prices. They preferred that any assistance to the poor should be carefully "targeted to the most disadvantaged sectors" to make sure that subsidies really help the poor that need them most.


Master plan

The consultations and the summit were an effort by the government to engage these stakeholders into crafting the Arroyo government's master plan for its food security initiatives before President Gloria Arroyo steps down in 2010.

The working timetable for the solutions that were arrived at highlights the tendency to favor those with short-term rather than long-term effects.

Most of the commitments mentioned by President Arroyo had to do with attracting the farmers to increase their production. These include:

- P500 million for fertilizer support and production.
- P6 billion per year for large and small irrigation systems.
- P6 billion per year for farm-to-market roads and Roll-On-Roll-Off ports.
- P5 billion for research and development, capacity building, and improving educational efforts for the agriculture and fisheries sector.
- P2 billion for hybrid seeds (for the remaining five planting seasons, up to 2010).
- P6 billion for certified seeds (also up to 2010).
- P2 billion for dryers and other post-harvest facilities.
- P15 billion for agricultural loans to farmers, most of which will be coursed through Landbank.


Six important things

These commitments basically cover what President Arroyo considers as the six most important components of food production: fertilizers, infrastructure and irrigation, extension and education, loans, drying and other post-harvest facilities, and seeds.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, who organized and spearheaded the two-month consultation effort, said these were culled from the proposals from various stakeholders.

For example, Rosalie Ellases of the Philippine Maize Growers Federation asked for more loans and farm to market roads. Alonzo Tan of the Alliance of Fishers Federation asked for fuel subsidies or rebates. Lyndon Tan of the Philippine Vegetable Council asked for efforts to prevent vegetable smuggling.

Bobby Amores of the Philippine Food Processors and Exporters Organizations asked for a moratorium on converting agricultural land for other uses, such as residential development. Rolando Dy of the University of Asia and the Pacific asked for more food terminals and irrigation facilities.


Not new

But except for a few tweaks—such as not just focusing on large-scale irrigation systems, but also small scale ones—these efforts are nothing new.

This has been a formula practiced for years: An increase in government's support in the inputs (more fertilizer and seed subsidies, better irrigation), in the output (post harvest facilities), and in related needs (loans, education, research and development), naturally resulted in higher productivity.

True enough, agricultural production—or how much crop harvests are achieved every year or every planting season—has been growing. In 2007 alone, production grew 4.68 percent from 2006's.

Rice production, which is considered the most important of all the agricultural crops, reached 16.24 million metric tons, an all-time high. This 2008, Yap boasted during the summit that such level would even be topped with a target of 17.32 million metric tons.

The government is downplaying the anxiety about food security in the Philippines by stressing how local farmers will be able to harvest more in the coming seasons. Yap said that it could source the 2.2 million metric tons of rice imports to augment the local production to meet the 12 million metric tons of rice needed per year.


Crackdown on hoarders

During the summit, President Arroyo highlighted what is now a high-profile crack down on rice hoarders and those who are allegedly manipulating the accreditation system of the National Food Authority. The NFA is the agency in charge of stabilizing rice prices by trading, importing, marketing and distributing rice all over the country.

President Arroyo also mentioned about the plan to have a deputy ombudsman whom she will task to make sure that the funds channeled to the agriculture sector are spent wisely.

These are all a reaction to the global situation of steep increases in food crop prices, which is expected to drag on for years.

In the world market, prices of Filipino's staple food, rice, and other food and feedstock crops like wheat, corn, and others have been escalating since 2002, and some have abruptly jumped up to 400 percent since October 2007. With weather disturbances, high energy prices, and increasing demand from economies with now richer citizens, food prices are generally expected to continue going up in the next years—possibly beyond President Arroyo's term in 2010.


Market conditions

In a previous interview, agriculture expert Arsenio Balisacan said for 30 years, farmers have been dependent on government support and subsidy, but this has not improved their productivity.

"Productivity means having more output even if you have the same inputs. That means more income for the farmers in the long term. It is not dependent on politics. That's more sustainable," Balisacan said. He was comparing the difference between increasing productivity, not just production.

"In the past, when governments reduced their subsidies for fertilizers, seeds, irrigation, the farmers’ production went down. So they were left holding the bag," Balisacan added. "That makes their income potentials dependent on political whims, which should not be the case."

He suggested that instead of dangling more and perpetuating farmers' reliance on subsidies that are dependent on politicians' preferences for that day, "we should let market conditions dictate. Right now, for example, by keeping the rice prices artificially lower than world prices through government subsidies on fertilizer, seeds, the local farmers are not fully taking advantage of opportunities to earn more."

That is easier said than done.


Rice and politics

According to a 2005 paper by Philippine Institute for Development Studies written by Ponciano S. Intal, Jr. and Marissa C. Garcia, rice supply and price have dictated the political careers of many personalities in the past, including former President Diosdado Macapagal, President Arroyo's father.

They noted that "the electoral defeat of President [Carlos] Garcia in 1961 and President [Diosdado] Macapagal can be attributed in part to...spikes in rice prices during the run-up to the presidential elections."

They added that "… for the 1965 elections, the Macapagal administration increased substantially the level of rice imports (in 1964-1965) apparently in an attempt to dampen the price of rice before the elections but to no avail."


Source of funds

Larry Nationales, who heads the regional office of the agriculture department in Iloilo, told abs-cbnnews.com/Newsbreak that the summit was a chance to "recognize the problems of the agriculture sector, engage the stakeholders, and seek solutions and commit resources."

Nationales noted how the need for smaller irrigation systems is crucial since big ones tend to flood an entire field, which discourages farmers who want to plant higher value crops that only need smaller quantities of water.

Some of the funds to pursue these irrigation plans and other agricultural subsidies are already part of the programmed budget for the year, while the funding source for the others has not been divulged. "Which of these are new money? Which other activities will be sacrificed to cover these new commitments?" a participant from the academe told abs-cbnnews.com/Newsbreak at the sidelines of the summit.

The government is hell-bent on achieving a balance budget this year, as promised to debtors and international credit rating agencies. Spending more funds for the agriculture sector beyond the earlier budget could potentially jeopardize this.

The budget deficit for the first two months of the year already reached P33 billion, which, according to Finance Secretary Margarito Teves, is part of government's intention to spend more during the first half of the year pump-prime the economy as the adverse impact of the US recession looms.

Needed: a new revolution
How bad policies crimp exporters
From The Economist print edition
http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10926579

THE soaring price of rice and dwindling stockpiles of Asia's basic food are causing anxiety across the region. In particular the Philippines, a big, hungry country which cannot grow enough to feed itself, could be in trouble. The front pages of Manila's newspapers scream about a “rice crisis”, as politicians float drastic solutions, such as forcing the country's 100 leading firms to take up rice farming. Farmers in Thailand, the world's largest rice exporter, are delighted with the price surge, although some were said this week to be organising patrols to protect their crops.

The president of the Philippines, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, last month pleaded with Vietnam, the second-largest exporter, to guarantee supplies. The two countries signed an agreement on March 26th, apparently to do just that. But the various escape clauses that Vietnam secured suggest it was more of a face-saving measure than a firm pledge. Vietnam and India, another big rice exporter, have recently announced export restrictions to try to curb soaring food prices at home. This will make it tough for poor, rice-importing countries, in Africa as well as Asia, to secure supplies.

Until a few years ago, rising harvests satisfied the growth in rice demand caused by population growth and Asia's success in cutting poverty. But recent wobbles in output have reversed a long-term trend of falling prices. They have also left global stockpiles at their lowest since the 1970s.

Political consequences may follow. Mrs Arroyo came to office in a “people-power” revolt in 2001 and her grip on office is tenuous. Hunger could be the excuse the opposition needs to bring Filipinos to the streets. So Mrs Arroyo is straining to be seen doing something about food: posing for photos at grain warehouses and pledging to crack down on the fiddling of subsidised rice supplies.

Indonesia's president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, had hitherto been expected to sail to re-election next year. But costly food and rising poverty may endanger him. That Mr Yudhoyono made a show of completing a doctorate in agricultural economics during his 2004 election campaign only increases his potential for embarrassment. He has tinkered with, not abolished, Indonesia's absurd restrictions on rice imports. These, like the Philippines' rice import tariffs, were intended to protect poor rice farmers when prices were low, but they hurt poor rice eaters, a larger group.

This week a senior Indonesian official said the country had reached its goal of becoming self-sufficient in rice. Mr Yudhoyono later contradicted this, by saying Indonesia would need to continue importing Thai rice for now. Even if Indonesia attains self-sufficiency soon, it will be hard to maintain. The Philippines became self-sufficient in the 1980s, only to relapse into deficit, despite an expansion in its paddies.

Nature affects countries' ability to grow rice—but so does governance. An extreme case is Myanmar. Once it was the world's biggest rice exporter, and it still produces a small surplus. Yet many of its people go hungry, thanks to a crude, cruel regime.

Robert Zeigler of the International Rice Research Institute—a driver of Asia's “green revolution” in the 1960s—says governments are now paying for years of neglecting agricultural research and irrigation. They have lost prime land and water supplies in the rush to industrialise.

Simply reducing disparities in productivity, even between identical fields in a given district, could solve Asia's rice worries for decades to come. That would require, for instance, ensuring farmers can buy higher-quality seeds, which in turn would require more funding from governments for old-fashioned things such as cross-breeding existing strains of rice.

A report this week from the UN's economic commission for Asia said a boost in farm productivity could lift more than 200m Asians, a third of the region's poor, out of poverty. Asia's masters may need a new green revolution, if they want to avoid upheavals of a bloodier hue.

Arroyo allots P40B to stave off food crisis
By ANGELO GUTIERREZ
abs-cbnNEWS.com
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/topofthehour.aspx?StoryId=114035

President Arroyo on Friday committed at least 40 billion pesos for a government "masterplan" which seeks to prevent the emerging world food crisis from severely affecting the country.

"Our program, for easy recall, will be called FIELDS," Mrs. Arroyo said as she outlined the fund allotments for agriculture, based on the Department of Agriculture's (DA) list of recommendations that was drafted after a 40-day consultation meeting with farmers and agriculture leaders nationwide.

FIELDS stands for fertilizer, irrigation and infrastructure, extension and education, loans, dryers and post-harvest facilities, and seeds and other genetic materials.

Mrs. Arroyo made the announcement before agriculture stakeholders and public officials during the National Food Summit held at Fontana resort hotel in Clark, Pampanga.

Funds for FIELDS

Mrs. Arroyo commited P500 million for organic fertilizer, which she said must replace oil-based fertilizer, which is becoming increasingly unaffordable in the international market.

The President also promised to allot P6 million for yearly rehabilitation of irrigation systems starting 2008, and another P6 billion for infrastructure, including farm-to-market roads, roll on-roll off ferry ports, and air transportation for agricultural cargo.

Another P2 billion fund allocation was promised for agriculture research and development, including training for farmers and fisherfolks.

She also asked the Department of Science and Technology to allot funds for agriculture research from its P3 billion budget for the year.

For loans, Mrs. Arroyo said she has ordered government financial institutions, including the Land Bank of the Philippines, to release P15 billion for agricultural credit.

She said the amount excludes the P5 billion credit fund that has been made available solely for rice farmers.

Mrs. Arroyo said the government will also spend P2 billion for dryers and another $300 million (P12.5 billion) from the Asian Development Bank for post-harvest facilities nationwide.

For seeds, she said P8 billion will be spent for the development of high-yielding hybrid rice from certified rice.

DA Secretary Arthur Yap said the amounts alloted will be spent by the government in the remaining years of Mrs. Arroyo's presidency.

Agriculture Ombudsman

Arroyo said that with reports of corruption in the agriculture sector, she would have to appoint a Deputy Ombudsman for agriculture.

"Since farm spending may now be bigger, a deputy Ombudsman may be needed in agriculture," she said.

An Ombudsman in agriculture would initiate transparency and "ensure that money is spent wisely."

Mrs. Arroyo said in her speech that the government has "a lot of cleaning up to do" as she personally discovered that rice traders, particularly accredited distributors of the National Food Authority (NFA), have been "violating the terms and conditions of their accreditation."

Mrs. Arroyo said she had ordered the NFA to cancel all accreditations and authorizations issued to its dealers.

"We have asked them to apply all over again for accreditation," she said.

Preparing since Christmas

In his opening speech, Yap said that while he and other Cabinet members were on a Christmas break, Mrs. Arroyo summoned them to a meeting on December 27.

"The President has anticipated the impacts of this situation on our nation," Yap said.

He said that as early as the first week of January, Mrs. Arroyo ordered her to convene the National Food Summit.

He said he had spent the last 40 days going around rice producing provinces to get recommendations that will be presented to Mrs. Arroyo.

Mrs. Arroyo’s administration formed "FIELDS" based on these recommendations.

CARP extension not mentioned

However, there was no mention of the extension of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) in the FIELDS masterplan.

In the People’s Food Summit at the University of the Philippines on Tuesday, civil society groups, including Catholic church leaders, proposed the extension of CARP.

Twenty-nine bishops, led by Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo and Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales, asked Congress to urgently pass a law that will extend CARP.

"We are writing to manifest our appeal to the honorable members of Congress, the urgency of passing a bill to extend CARP and institute progressive reforms that would truly benefit our poor farmers who remain landless...," the CBCP said in a 3-page letter sent to Rep. Elias Bulut, chairman of the House Committee on Agrarian Reform last April 1.

"After twenty years, 1.3 million hectares of CARPable lands remain undistributed, consisting mainly of large haciendas of those who have been resisting CARP from its inception," the bishops said.

The bishops said giving farmers their own land to till will help the alleviation of poverty, particularly in the countrysides.

They said the passage of a reformed CARP should "be placed at the center of our country's agricultural development, transformation and competitiveness."

Another major recommendation made during the People’s Food Summit was the scrapping of the land conversion law, which has become an obstacle to the improvement of domestic rice production.

An ABS-CBN News Channel report, quoting the Philippine Rice Institute, said 9,000 hectares of rice lands are being converted for other uses every year since 2002.

The report said 9,000 hectares is equal to 50,000 tons of palay or 32,000 tons of milled rice.

Agri growth momentum

Yap, however, said that despite "unprecedented conditions, the agriculture sector is on a momentum of growth."

"The average growth has been robust and sustained at just a shade below 4 percent," he said.

Last year, he said the the government recorded "the second highest growth in the last eight years at 5 percent."

He said rice production has been increasing with 16.24 million metric tons of rice produced in 2007.

The agriculture department said domestic rice production has been increasing 2 percent per year.


_____________________________________________________


Evading CARP via the biofuels law?
Business World
http://www.bworld.com.ph/BW040708/content.php?id=002

(First of two parts)

WHILE ORDINARY Filipinos face the threat of food shortages caused by dwindling agricultural land, sugar barons in Congress are preoccupied with turning their vast haciendas and other lands into plantations to produce and process biofuels.

One of those engaged in this move is presidential brother-in-law Ignacio "Iggy" Arroyo, who hurdled last month most of the government requirements needed to convert his family’s 157-hectare Hacienda Bacan in Isabela, Negros Occidental into agro-industrial uses, mainly for the production of ethanol.

If the conversion pushes through, farmers charge that Mr. Arroyo will succeed in evading the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program, which covers rice, corn and sugar lands. It will nullify the claims of 67 farmer-beneficiaries who have been waiting for more than a decade for the Department of Agrarian Reform to award them Hacienda Bacan. Local DAR officials fear the Hacienda Bacan farmers will generate a big storm of protests.

The impending conversion of Hacienda Bacan not only contradicts supposed policy statements by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo that she favored a moratorium on land conversions to preserve the country’s agricultural economy. It also shows how lawmakers — including a member of the President’s own family — are making a windfall from crafting laws designed to promote their own business interests.

Representative Arroyo declined to be interviewed for this report. His office said the land use conversion issue "doesn’t have any relevance" to the Biofuels Act.

Mr. Arroyo’s office also said the congressman, currently the chair of the House Committee on Natural Resources, was committed to "environmental protection" and had even begun working on a climate change bill after attending the climate change summit in Bali, Indonesia last December.

In the 13th Congress, Mr. Arroyo co-authored Republic Act 9367, also known as the Biofuels Act of 2006, along with then Negros Oriental representative Herminio Teves and Bukidnon representative, now senator, Juan Miguel Zubiri. They and eight other co-authors in the House and Senate and their families own agricultural lands that can or will provide feedstock for biofuel production.

Biofuels are liquid fuel produced by mixing fossil fuel with oil derived from biomass like sugar, coconut and jatropha. Although there have been studies questioning their overall environmental and economic impact, biofuels are expected to help countries attain energy and economic independence.

Mr. Teves, whose term in Congress ended last year, is already planting jatropha for biodiesel on 10,000 hectares of land in Negros Oriental and has even constructed a jatropha plant that will be operational by 2009.

Meanwhile, Mr. Zuburi’s father, former Bukidnon congressman and now governor Jose Zubiri, has been the president of the Confederation of Sugar Producers Association since Sept. 1, 2006. The elder Mr. Zubiri was also once executive vice-president of the Bukidnon Sugar Milling Co. which, senator Zubiri said in a May 2006 news report, will tie up with the Bronzeoak Philippines to build an ethanol plant in Bukidnon. Senator Zubiri himself still owns at least eight hectares of sugar land in Maramag, Bukidnon.

When he was first elected to the House of Representatives, Mr. Arroyo filed the Fuel Ethanol Act of 2004 that was consolidated along with other bills to become the Biofuels Act. He is also the chairperson of Rivulet Agro Industrial Corp., which owns Hacienda Bacan. Mr. Arroyo, however, lists neither Rivulet nor Hacienda Bacan in his 2004 to 2006 statements of assets of liabilities.

The Arroyos own about 500 hectares of land in Negros Occidental. These include Haciendas Bacan, Grande, Fallacon, and Manolita, according to a DAR report. Bacan and Grande, in particular, are sugar plantations whose ownership has been hotly contested by various farmers’ groups.

Documents show Hacienda Bacan, which has belonged to the Arroyo family for decades, as being registered to Rivulet, now chaired by Mr. Arroyo. Task Force Mapalad, a nationwide alliance of about 25,000 farmers seeking land reform, claims, however, that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s husband, Jose Miguel "Mike" Arroyo, actually owns Hacienda Bacan.

"Alam naman natin na kay Gloria Macapagal Arroyo yung lupa (We know that the land is owned by Gloria Macapagal Arroyo)," said Ricky Celis, one of the 67 farmers claiming the land under CARP. "Talagang ayaw nilang bitiwan ’to (They certainly won’t let go of the land)."

Mortgaged several times, Hacienda Bacan ran up millions of pesos in unpaid taxes to the municipal government and became a delinquent property that was auctioned off in April 1994 for P176.7 million. A certification of sale of the property issued by the office of the Isabela treasurer states it was sold to Jose Miguel Arroyo married to Gloria M. Arroyo. The First Gentleman’s ownership of the property, however, was not annotated at the back of the land title.

Amid calls to put the hacienda under the agrarian reform program when Mrs. Arroyo became president in 2001, Ignacio Arroyo that same year offered the property under the voluntary offer to sell scheme of CARP to get a higher valuation.

The path toward converting the Arroyo sugar plantation began in October 2005 when the Isabela municipal council reclassified Hacienda Bacan from agricultural to agro-industrial land under a six-year comprehensive land use plan it approved through a resolution.

The land use plan, which spans from 2005 to 2010, was upheld by the provincial council in December that year.

Despite Hacienda Bacan’s reclassification, DAR provincial officer Teresita Depeñoso said Mr. Arroyo still has to apply for land use conversion with the DAR before he can put up an ethanol plant. He lost no time in doing so.

On Feb. 14, 2007, just a month after President Arroyo signed the Biofuels Act into law, Rivulet sent DAR-Negros Occidental advance copies of the application for conversion of Hacienda Bacan into industrial land.

In January this year, it installed eight billboards in Isabela town notifying the public of its intention to apply for land conversion with the DAR.

The DAR office in Isabela posted last March 3 a notice of Rivulet’s land use conversion application and issued just two weeks ago a certification of the company’s application.

The last step for Representative Arroyo is to now file these and other documents with the DAR Central Office, in particular the Center for Land Use Policy, Planning, and Implementation, to get his application processed.

DAR municipal agrarian reform officer Jose Defiño said formal protests, if any are filed, may stall approval of Rivulet’s application. "Siguradong marami ang mag- protest, mga members ng Task Force Mapalad (Many are expected to protest, especially Task Force Mapalad members)," he said.

Reclassifying and converting Hacienda Bacan to agro-industrial land will exempt it from CARP distribution because R.A. 6657 or the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law only provides for the distribution of agricultural land not classified as mineral, forest, residential, commercial or industrial land to farmers.

The 20-year-old CARP will expire on June 10 this year. Task Force Mapalad and the Catholic prelates are among the groups seeking an extension of the program.

Agrarian reform lawyer and former DAR Undersecretary Gil de los Reyes said that while the law allows the Arroyos to change their land use to agro-industrial for an ethanol plant, only the area occupied by the plant should be reclassified.

"No factory exists that will occupy the entire 300 hectares. At the most, what will you have [are] 10 [to] 20 hectares that will be converted from agricultural to non- agricultural," he said.

If it pushes through, the ethanol plant will bring a windfall of benefits for the Arroyos. A 100,000 liter-capacity ethanol plant can make at least P3.2 million if ethanol sells at a profitable benchmark of P32 to P35 a liter based on estimates of the Sugar Regulatory Administration.

Even without an ethanol plant, Mr. Arroyo stands to gain more than P10 million annually if sugarcane planted in Hacienda Bacan is sold for ethanol production. The SRA estimates that sugar landowners can expect P65,000 annually for every hectare.

The huge profits to be reaped from biofuels are an incentive for landowners like former congressman and Biofuels Act co-author Mr. Teves who has been growing jatropha trees on 10,000 hectares of leased hillsides in Tamlang Valley, a 24,000-hectare area straddling the municipalities of Valencia, Siaton, and Sta. Catalina in Negros Oriental, since last year. His biodiesel plant is set to start operations in 2009.

Jatropha seeds contain oil that may be processed into biodiesel.

"I leased a denuded area, mostly hills that cannot be plowed by tractor or even by carabao but can still be planted by jatropha," the 89-year-old Mr. Teves said in an interview.

Despite having ended his term as Negros Oriental third district representative in May 2007, he still occupies Room S-119 of the House Representatives, now the office of his nephew, Rep. Henry Pryde Teves.

Jatropha production gradually increases, said Mr. Teves who explained that 2,000 trees per hectare can be planted one year and 4,000 the next. He said jatropha production has opened up jobs for many residents of Tamlang Valley, adding that he offers profit-sharing to employees.

He expects to harvest 10,000 kilos of seeds per hectare after four years. About 3.5 kilos of seeds can produce a liter of oil which, he said, is "similar to bunker oil."

However, agriculture experts from the University of the Philippines-Los Baños have found in a January 2007 study that jatropha only becomes a practical biodiesel feedstock if seeds yield at least 34% oil content.

The local variety, however, yields less than the practical standard. "Only 28 to 32 percent oil is said to be extractable," the experts said.

This does not deter Mr. Teves from pursuing the biodiesel business. Now that his jatropha project is underway, he said he is "in no hurry" to sell the seeds as a lot of local and foreign investors are interested in buying them.

RA 9367 has no provision mandating local biofuel producers to supply the local market first before exporting their products. This means biofuel producers can choose to supply their product to higher-paying foreigners.

In fact, Mr. Teves plans to sell to the more lucrative foreign market. "The PNOC (Philippine National Oil Co.) and the oil companies here want to already sign an agreement with me. But I’m not in a hurry because I know there are foreign companies willing to buy," he said.

He added that China and Japan are "very, very interested" to buy jatropha to produce biodiesel.

Minutes of the bicameral conference committee that fashioned the final version of the Biofuels Act reveal that Mr. Teves was apparently eyeing the foreign market even before the law was passed. In one of the rare moments that he spoke before the committee, he asked whether producers could sell abroad if local companies can’t keep up with world prices.

"So it’s not mandatory that a producer will have to sell to the local [market] if the price abroad will be higher?," he asked, to which then Senate Energy Committee Chair Aquilino Pimentel replied that there was no such provision in the proposed law.

Mr. Teves’ statement of assets and liabilities show that he acquired his first agricultural land in Sibulan, Negros Oriental in 1950, and later became the managing director of Tolong Sugar Milling in Sta. Catalina, Negros Oriental.

Today, his company, Herminio Teves and Co., which will finance his new jatropha processing plant, manages his sugar lands alongside rice and corn farms, piggeries, and subdivisions, mostly located in Tayawan, Sta. Catalina, and Bayawan. As of Dec. 31, 2006, while the then biofuels bill he co-authored was awaiting the President’s approval, his sugar lands were collectively worth P11 million.

FVR: Arroyo gov't 'mismanaged' agri sector

By ZEN HERNANDEZ
ABS-CBN News

"To be importing 1.2 million tons of rice, which is four times the volume of rice importation 10 years ago, does not equate to as if the population grew four times, or maybe people are eating four times more of rice. There is some inefficiency that must be re-examined."

This was the parting shot of former President Fidel Ramos before he left for a Boao forum in China Sunday.

Ramos blamed the rice shortage to what he described as the Arroyo administration’s “mismanagement” of agriculture policies.

One of these policies, the former chief executive pointed out, is the policy on irrigation.

Ramos cited as an example, the San Roque Multi-Purpose Dam Project in Pangasinan, a project that started during his term and was concluded during the administration of President Gloria Arroyo.

"According to the [dam’s] design and specification, it is good enough to irrigate 87,000 hectares downstream of farmlands,” he said. "Pero hanggang ngayon hindi pa nare-release ang tubig na yan for irrigation, dahil sa too much politics.”

"Well, if there are any missing funds that were supposed to be devoted to irrigation, dapat maimbestigahan yan agad,” Ramos said.

Irrigation funds lost?

On Saturday, the militant group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) revealed the alleged loss of some P3.1 billion in irrigation funds.

Surprisingly, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap admitted having received such reports.

The KMP further revealed that staunch allies of the President Arroyo, specifically from the House of Representatives and the local government units, were the benefactors of funds intended for irrigation.

"Yung bang political allies ni Gng. Arroyo ang nag-request o si Gng. Arroyo ang nag-offer nito?" Mariano said. “Siyempre political, eh may kailangang kapalit. Alam naman natin malapit na yung 2010 eh."

That’s politics

But according to Quezon province 3rd District Representative Danny Suarez, who was in the said list of benefactors, he utilized the fund for a big irrigation project in his province.

Suarez added Arroyo allies like him should not be blamed for being a priority in getting funds.

"Masakit mang sabihin, kung kalaban ka ng Presidente hindi ka talaga bibigyan ng project. That's politics,” he said. “Why would the president give assistance to somebody who's biting her and does not believe in her administration and program?"

Agri plan may not address short-term crisis

President Arroyo has already promised that the government will be allocating P43.7 billion to resolve agriculture issues.

But for former President Ramos, the funds may not be able to address the immediate problems of rice shortage and high prices.

"That's [P43.7 billion] fine, but I hope that will be used for long term planning. Because people will throw the argument back at you, ‘Eh di kainin mo pera mo. Wala tayong bigas!” he said

"Just because you appropriated this amount won’t resolve the [immediate] problem. It takes time. What was lost was time," Ramos said.

Ethical lapses mark OK of biofuels law
By Jessica Hermosa and Johanna Sisante, VERA Files
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
(Conclusion)
PhilStar
http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Headlines&p=49&type=2&sec=24&aid=20080407111

There is perhaps no lawmaker as enthusiastic about biofuels as Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri.

Zubiri was still congressman for the third district of Bukidnon when he became principal author of the House bill that eventually became Republic Act 9367 or the Biofuels Act. He campaigned hard to get other lawmakers to support the measure that he earned himself the nickname “Mr. Biofuel.” His official page in the Senate website describes him as the “father of the Biofuels Act of 2006.”

Zubiri’s campaign for biofuels appears to be in keeping with his pro-environment image. Biofuels, made from such sources as sugarcane, coconut and jathropa, are after all supposed to be a cleaner alternative to fossil fuels. But Zubiri and his family – long-time sugar planters – also stand to gain from the budding biofuel industry that will depend mostly on sugarland for raw material.

Like Zubiri, 10 other authors of the Biofuels Act in the House of Representatives and the Senate and their families own agricultural lands that can or will provide feedstock for biofuel production. They include former congressman Herminio Teves and presidential brother-in-law Ignacio “Iggy” Arroyo.

Ethical lapses like these marked the passage of the Biofuels Act of 2006. Some of the lawmakers’ vested interests prevented thorough discussions of the conversion of agricultural land to biofuel purposes, a move which will not only deprive farmers of land, but also cause more environmental damage in the long run.

Zubiri belongs to a family with a long-running history in the sugar business. His uncle George and father Jose Maria, the current governor of Bukidnon, hail from Negros Occidental, part of the country’s “Sugar Bowl.” The Zubiris are credited for bringing sugarcane to Bukidnon in the 1970s. The two were holding top positions at the Confederation of Sugar Producers Association (CSPA) at the time the younger Zubiri drafted the biofuels law.

Fernando Corpuz, manager of the Sugar Regulatory Administration’s research development and extension for Luzon and Mindanao, said Zubiri’s father “still has a lot of clout in it (sugar industry) being a political icon” even after he has sold their sugar mill to five Chinese traders.

Zubiri denied allegations of conflict of interest in the passage of the Biofuels Act. “I’m fighting for my district and for the constituency of all the sugar-producing areas,” said the 38-year-old senator. “I’m fighting for the interests of the farmers: They are five million Filipinos. That’s my job.” These farmers have suffered from the lag in the sugar industry, which posted the largest decline among the agricultural industries at the end of 2007, partly due to low world prices for table sugar. The SRA then looked to bioethanol as an alternative market to revive the industry.

The Biofuels Act mandates the production of bioethanol from sugarcane, among other plant sources, and biodiesel from coconut and jatropha, effectively creating a bigger market for plantation owners. It also grants tax privileges to those who want to enter the biofuel industry.

It was Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, former secretary of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), who raised the issue of conflict of interest in the passage of the Biofuels Act when she alleged in press releases that landlords had strongly lobbied for biofuels.

Santiago, head of the Senate Committee on Energy, said in a speech she delivered at the Energy Summit last January that legislators must immediately inform Congress of possible conflict of interest that may occur because of their proposed legislation. She cited the Anti-Graft Law that bans any lawmaker from authoring bills that may grant benefits to his or her business interests.

Feeling alluded to, Zubiri clarified that his family – the ruling political clan in Bukidnon that owns vast landholdings – has shifted from sugar to bananas. “I’m not producing sugar anymore. It’s all bananas now,” he said.

Eil Branzuela, provincial agrarian reform officer for South Bukidnon, said, however, the senator’s father still has a connection with the Bukidnon Sugar Milling Co. (BUSCO), which the family used to own, because of his position as Bukidnon governor.

The young senator was quoted in media as having said that BUSCO would tie up with Bronzeoak Philippines to construct an ethanol plant in Bukidnon. Documents from the Securities and Exchange Commission show that an ethanol plant called South Bukidnon Bioenergy was registered in November 2006. The chair of the board is Jose Ma. Zabaleta Jr., whose father Jose Ma. Zabaleta is president of Bronzeoak Philippines and a friend of the Zubiri family. The senior Zabaleta was the executive director of the Philippine Sugar Millers Association at the time of RA 9367’s passage.

Governor Zubiri is also the president of the CSPA, a position he has held since Sept. 1, 2006, according to SEC documents and a statement from the senator himself. SEC documents also reveal that his uncle George was the senior vice president of the confederation from Sept. 1, 2004 to Aug. 31, 2006.

The confederation, which declares its aims as developing and securing the stability of the sugar industry, has 31 associations composed of 4,000 to 5,000 members each. It is said to produce more than half the country’s sugar supply.

In addition to being in the position to supply most of the sugar needed for ethanol production, the implementing rules and regulations of the Biofuels Act made the confederation a member of the Bioethanol Board, a consultative body that will work with the SRA in developing and implementing bioethanol-related policies.

Senator Zubiri, however, insists that he and his family are out of the sugar business. “I personally do not own more than 10 hectares titled to me, and same with the rest of my family, because we were already subjected to agrarian reform in 1988,” he said.

Declarations of real property acquired from the Bukidnon provincial assessor’s office reveal otherwise. They show that along with various members of the Zubiri family who separately own portions of sugarcane land, the senator himself has eight hectares in Maramag, Bukidnon dedicated to sugar crops. These sugar lands are what the Zubiris retained from their vast landholdings, Valle Escondida in particular, after being subjected to the agrarian reform program in the late 1980s.

Asked why his father is the CSPA president, the senator admitted that his father still owns about 30 hectares of land planted to sugar “so he can be part of the confederation.”

“My father is (producing sugar), but he’s not a senator. He’s not a congressman. Under the law, the violation is only the legislator,” he said.

Joel Villanueva, agrarian reform officer of Maramag, said that a total of 610 hectares of the Zubiris’ Valle Escondida were transferred to 281 farmer-beneficiaries.

Branzuela said certificates of land ownership have been given to the farmer-beneficiaries, but the Zubiris still operate on the land through a leaseback agreement. The Zubiris, in turn, are leasing this land to food packaging giant Dole, he said.

Zubiri did not deny this. “The beneficiaries still own the land. We pay them every year for the use of the land even if it’s ours in the first place,” he said.

Gil de los Reyes, agrarian reform lawyer and former DAR undersecretary, said it is unclear how a leaseback agreement can be fairly made as “there are no clear rules” on the terms of such a transaction.

Explaining the House deliberations on the biofuels bill, Zubiri said that aside from industry players and government agencies, he had consulted with Greenpeace, Haribon and the Clean Cities Movement. “They were all consulted when we passed this, especially the groups that pushed for cleaner air,” he said.

Transcripts of the House meetings and sessions, however, show that these groups were never given the floor during the deliberations. Neither were farmers’ groups. As much as the lawmakers mentioned the sugar boom’s benefits to farmers in terms of employment, nothing in the House transcripts pointed to a discussion of how exactly profits would trickle down to grassroots farmers. These discussions came up only in the Senate and during the bicameral conference committee meetings.

Development for whom?

There is much to be gained from biofuels, although that can be interpreted in two ways. On one hand, there are gains to the public – cleaner air, lower oil prices and higher employment rates. On the other hand, there are the more sinister gains the lawmakers have carved out for themselves – generous profits to be made from the boom in feedstock plantations.

Antonio Flores, national treasurer of the farmer’s group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, is careful to make a distinction between these two benefits. He said: “Hindi naman kami tutol sa usaping development. Pero, ang tanong namin, para kanino ang development (We aren’t against development. But our question is, for whom is this development)?”

There are other looming issues that are not sufficiently discussed by the Biofuels Act and its IRR. These include complications with land use, continuing environmental harm, and an even more problematic imports situation.

The law is not specific about land use conversion. This is possibly the trickiest aspect of the law, as it touches on land reform and the food versus fuel debate that was emphasized in media early this year.

Corpuz of SRA expressed misgivings about the dearth of policies on land use. The SRA is tasked to check the suitability of lands for feedstock plantation before a potential planter ventures into planting vast tracts of sugar crops.

National Biofuels Board (NBB) Deputy Director John Jacob Gonzales enumerated these as “no competition for food, no competition for land. Biofuels should be planted on green fields or marginalized land. Conventional land for food crops like rice and others should (not) be in direct competition.”

He did not say how his board plans to prevent or discourage landowners from converting food crops to feedstock plantations – to the displeasure of farmers like KMP’s Flores.

“Ang posisyon namin diyan ay yung lupa sana ay para taniman ng pagkain tulad ng mais (Our position is that the land be used to plant food like corn),” he said.

Aside from ensuring that there will be no competition with food, the NBB guidelines also prohibit feedstock land use that will harm the environment.

Surprisingly, the law does not include the Department of Environment and Natural Resources among the members of the NBB despite the reported ecological harm associated with feedstock growing.

Clearing forests to make way for feedstock plantation has caught the attention of environmental groups all over the world. Biofuel production in Indonesia, for instance, is currently under scrutiny by governments and NGOs worldwide.

Conversion of forests and grasslands into palm oil plantations is said to be emitting more carbon than gasoline usage. These conversions release 17 to 423 times more carbon than the amount reduced by biofuel use, revealed a February 2008 study by the University of Minnesota and the Nature Conservancy titled “The Dark Side of Biofuels.”

Despite an alleged surplus in feedstock, especially in the case of sugarcane, the Philippines is expected to fall short of the target supply needed to comply with the mandated blends. One reason is that there aren’t enough processing plants.

“For biodiesel I think we have enough supply,” Gonzales said. “But for bioethanol, we need to set up at least 10 more factories, and each factory needs 30 million liters. One factory alone needs at least one year and a half (to construct).”

Gonzales said the government will have to import bioethanol to reverse the deficit.

Deliberations in the Senate and the bicameral conference committee had anticipated the possibility of ethanol importation in the next few years. The Biofuels Act allows importation when there is a local shortage.

With a looming importation problem, potential environmental harm and muddled land use regulations, the Biofuels Act may be creating more problems than solutions at a time when the country direly needs a sustainable and effective alternative energy program.

VERA Files is put out by veteran journalists taking a deeper look into current issues. Vera is Latin for “true.”

Root crops, banana cited as rice substitutes

TACLOBAN CITY — As prices of commercial rice continue to rise, the Department of Agriculture (DA) here urged consumers to consider root crops and banana as alternatives to the staple.

Veronica Berenguer, regional coordinator of the government’s high-value commercial crop (HVCC) program, told reporters here that farmers should also consider planting more of these crops. Backyard gardening is also encouraged.

Eastern Visayas, or Region 8, has an abundant supply of sweet potato (camote), cassava, taro (gabi) and the sab-a and cardava varieties of bananas.

"These are good options if the buying price of rice will continue to rise or if there will be severe shortage," Ms. Berenguer said in an interview.

Sweet potato thrives in 25,900 hectares of farms in the region with an average annual production of 116,000 metric tons (MT). According to the Agriculture department, Region 8 is abundant in sweet potato.

Ms. Berenguer said his office has asked the Agriculture head office for P5 million to fund the massive propagation of camote in the region.

Cassava is cultivated in 23,000 hectares of land with an average yield of 70,000 MT every year while taro is produced in 4,535 hectares of farms in Leyte and Samar provinces with an average annual yield of 17,500 MT.

The region also has 31,450 hectares devoted to banana planting, especially the sab-a and cardava varieties. Annual yield averages 254,000 MT.

"If in case there are areas in the region where the grains will become scarce, we have these crops to feast on," Ms. Berenguer said.

She said root crops thrive even in poor soil and climate, while rice entails high maintenance costs, in terms of production and labor inputs. — Sarwell Q. Meniano www.bworldonline.com/

Rice crisis to cost 1% of GDP, study says
Manila Times
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/apr/10/yehey/top_stories/20080410top5.html

Soaring food prices are likely to cost the Philippines nearly 1 percent of its economic output this year to ensure adequate supplies to the poor, Credit Suisse said Wednesday.

The government has announced plans to import up to 2.7 million tons this year even as prices soared to near-historical levels amid tight global supplies.

President Gloria Arroyo has cited rising food prices as a threat to the economy, while analysts have warned major rice importers that soaring prices could lead to social unrest and pose security problems. The government has deployed police and military to crack down on rice hoarders.

The Swiss-based investment bank said in a study that Manila was likely to import 2.6 million tons this year at up to $1,000 a ton to ensure it will have enough stocks to sell to the poor at state-subsidized prices.

“We estimate that the fiscal cost of importing rice at a high price and selling it at the current domestic price could approach 1 percent of GDP [gross domestic product] in 2008,” the Credit Suisse report said.

GDP refers to the total market value of final goods and services produced within a country in a year.

A potential loss of $1.3 billion or 0.7 percent of GDP was likely because it will incur margin costs for storage and distribution and release it into the domestic market at its current selling price, it added.

The government, through the National Food Authority (NFA) is the Philippines’ main rice importer as well as the buyer of last resort for locally grown rice. It recently raised the price it pays for rice it buys from Filipino farmers by 44 percent to discourage rice smuggling.

Credit Suisse said the authority was likely to finance the bulk of its loss through government-guaranteed borrowings from commercial and state banks.

“Although the cost of the rice subsidy is sizeable, we think the government has enough fiscal flexibility to shoulder this burden without impairing its sovereign creditworthiness,” it added.

Credit Suisse said Philippine rice production has been rising steadily, to 11.3 million tons this year from 5.6 million tons in 1998, but that the growth of its population, now estimated at more than 85 million, has outpaced output growth.

Experts said the Philippines does not have adequate farmland suitable for growing the water-intensive crop.

While Philippine rice yields of 3.6 million tons per hectare (about 2.47 acres) are way above the 2.6 million tons per hectare in Thailand, the world’s top rice exporter, Manila’s production costs per ton was substantially higher at $96 compared to $74 for Bangkok, Credit Suisse said.

Stabilizing rice supply may cost $1.3B (1% of GDP)
By Doris Dumlao
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Inquirer
http://business.inquirer.net/money/topstories/view/20080410-129410/Stabilizing-rice-supply-may-cost-13B

Government intervention to stabilize rice supply could cost $1.3 billion this year—nearly one percent of the gross domestic product—but is unlikely to threaten the national government’s credit rating, investment bank Credit Suisse said.

Private importation of rice, which has been negligible in recent years, is expected to remain low despite the recent doubling of quotas on private importation, Credit Suisse said in a report dated April 8, titled, “Philippines: The Fiscal Cost of Rice.”

Because of the tax subsidy it receives from the national government, the National Food Authority (NFA) has a big competitive advantage over private importers, who are slapped with a 50-percent tariff, said the study authored by economist Cem Karacadag.

“The surge in global rice prices would likely make the 50-percent tariff rate and the price differential between NFA rice even more prohibitive for private rice importers,” it said.

The investment bank said private imports could rise if the government were to exempt private importers from tariffs, as recent news reports had suggested, thus reducing the financial burden on the NFA, the country’s main importer of rice.

Credit Suisse assumed that the NFA would import the lion’s share of the 2.6 million metric tons of the country’s requirement this year, buying them at a high price and selling at domestic prices.

The $1.3-billion loss estimate was calculated based on the difference between the import price and selling price, and an average margin cost of P3 for storage and distribution per kilogram of rice imported.

“Our fiscal cost estimate is subject to two risks: Rice supply and smuggling,” Credit Suisse said.

“We assume that the NFA is able to import rice from the international market albeit at a high price of $1,000 per ton. If supply becomes scarcer in the global market, the market clearing price of rice could skyrocket further. We also assume that smuggling will not create the need for the NFA to import substantially more rice from abroad.”

The NFA is seen to finance the bulk of its loss through government guaranteed borrowings from commercial and state banks. Finance Secretary Margarito Teves was earlier quoted in news reports that state banks might extend a loan to the NFA amounting to P20 billion for rice purchases.

“Given the broad-based pressure on inflation from oil and food prices and rice’s importance as staple food of the poor, we doubt the government will pass on to consumers the recent surge in global rice prices,” Credit Suisse said. “We therefore assume that the NFA will shoulder the entire financial burden of the recent surge in global rice prices.”

Credit Suisse noted the price of “ordinary” rice in the Philippines had risen by 25 percent from 2000 to 2007. Rice imports have more than doubled in the past decade, making the country the largest importer of rice in the world, reaching 1.7-1.8 million metric tons a year from 2005 to 2007.

“The surge in rice imports stems from domestic rice output lagging behind consumption growth which, in turn, has been driven by population growth and increasing per capita rice consumption,” it said.

The government aims to import 2.6 million metric tons of rice in 2008, 44 percent more than in 2007, to build up stocks and prevent shortages.

The World Bank attributes the country’s insufficient rice production to its relatively low productivity.

The institution said Philippines rice yields averaged 3.5 metric tons per hectare in 2005, while Indonesia and Vietnam achieved higher yields of 4.5-4.8 metric tons per hectare.

Ifugao rice farmers among world’s best (http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/apr/10/yehey/top_stories/20080410top8.html)

Can the Ifugao rice farmer be considered as one of the best, if not the best, rice farmers in the world? The facts behind the fabled and legendary Ifugao rice terraces can perhaps answer that question.

Of the several rice terraces in Ifugao, the Banawe rice terraces are largely touted as the “eighth wonder of the world.” It is also well known that the Banawe and other Ifugao rice terraces were built without forced labor, unlike the other Seven Wonders of the World, which employed slaves.

It is thus fitting that the Banawe rice terraces be named a United Nations Heritage Site.

The other rice terraces in Ifugao, which have also caught much of the attention of tourists and anthropologists are: Batad, Banga-an, Mayo-yao, Hapao, Bacung, Kinga, Nagacadan, Julongan and Nunggulunan.

While Bontoc also boasts of its rice terraces, the Ifugao rice terraces are larger in scale.

According to the website of the Ifugao local government, the rice terraces may have dated back to the late 16th century or early 17th century. And at one time, it stretched from Cagayan in the North to Quezon province in the South.

However, the age of the rice terraces has been a subject of debate, with the Ifugao local government’s website stating that “there are young and enthusiastic writers/speakers who say that the rice terraces were built some 2,000 years ago.”

Age notwithstanding, the rice terraces are more than a sight to behold and an ancient monument—they are actually a very functional agriculture and ecological masterpiece. Likewise, the rice terraces have been producing rice for centuries, showing that the Ifugaos were able to maintain the fertility of the rice fields’ soils and even contain soil erosion.

“Agriculture is an extractive activity [on the soil], but the rice terraces have been productive for many centuries. It’s a wonder how the lands [of the rice terraces] have remained fertile for thousands of years,” said Rodelio Carating, technical assistant to the director of the Bureau of Soils and Water Management.

Apparently, the Ifugaos have proven that they are more intelligent compared with their counterparts from other local tribes who practiced slash-and-burn or kaingin farming, which is unsustainable and even discouraged.

“At the most, kaingin farms last only up to three years. After that, another area must be cleared for farming,” Cataring said.

Engineering marvel

Cataring said the Ifugaos must be highly commended for constructing the rice terraces, since they did not have surveying instruments and modern machinery at their disposal. Notably, some portions of the rice terraces reach as high as 4,500 to 5,000 feet.

As to how the Ifugaos built the rice terraces using mostly crude primitive instruments and without the aid of surveying instruments is actually thought provoking.

The Ifugao local government’s website states “it is indeed a wonder how the early Ifugaos, with only the simplest and crudest hand tools, were able to build the rice terraces. They were able to cope with the ecological factors, which they have to interrelate with the social and cultural factors.”

The engineering feat of the Ifugaos never escaped the attention of the American Society of Civil Engineers, which conferred it the “International Historic Engineering Landmark Award.”

Besides being an engineering feat, the Ifugao rice terraces demonstrate that farming can blend in harmony with culture, and more importantly, nature.

Cataring said Ifugao culture includes beliefs in anitos or gods, who are believed to dwell in forests, hence the preservation of forests is part of their culture. And it is from the forests that water for the streams and rivers is supplied, which feed the irrigation system of the rice terraces.

The Ifugao’s irrigation system diverts water from rivers and streams, and channels these to the terraces through a series of dikes and pipes. The pipes can be bamboo of various diameters, which make sure only the right amount of water is channeled to the terraces, and that no soil erosion is caused by excessive water flow.

At the upper point of most terraces are well-preserved rainforests, the primary source of water.

So simple yet efficient is the irrigation system of the rice terraces. But prominent Filipino biotechnologist Dr. Saturnina Halos labeled it as “advanced.” Halos is also the chairman of the Biotechnology Team of the Department of Agriculture.

Harold Conklin, in his Ethnographic Atlas of Ifugao (Yale University Press), explained that “for hundreds of years, Ifugaos have diverted stream water for irrigation up to five to six kilometers. Using the stream’s current and sheer manpower, they rolled stones and small boulders from mountaintops and formed these as rock walls to hold mountainsides and create rice terraces.”

And in an article taken from the University of California Publications in American Archeology and Ethnology dating back to 1922, which is posted on the Internet, Barton R.F. somehow shows amazement on how the Ifugaos were truly skilled agriculturists, taking note also of their irrigation system.

“In this the Ifugao shows himself [as] a highly skilled agriculturist. Did he know the reason for this practice would even be a science one? All year the fields have been under water. Even after rice harvest the water is not turned off for the fields would then grow up with dense vegetation. There has been little action of the air on the soil; little decomposition of vegetable matters by oxygen. In the mounds the air has an excellent opportunity to decompose and mellow the soil,” Barton said.

And for centuries, the Ifugaos were able to preserve the ecological balance of the rice terraces vis-à-vis the forests, which they believed is where the anitos dwelled.

“The rice terraces are truly multi-functional it’s also an ecological piece,” Carating said.

[b]Future of farming

In an earlier interview with Agence France-Presse, International Rice Research Institute President Robert Zeigler said, “There is just not enough land” in the Philippines to plant more rice. This partly explains why the country has to import rice.

IRRI economist David Dawe also cited that Thailand, India, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia and Bangladesh have the advantage of having broad deltas and large tracts of plains that are best for rice farming. Unfortunately, the Philippines does not have the luxury of having vast plains.

Halos also warned that investing in traditional irrigated lands require large outlays of capital and huge amounts of water, which is not sustainable.

“When a water crisis hits the country, we will suffer a rice crisis because most of the technologies developed for rice farming are for the lowland varieties which require large amounts of water,” she said.

However, the Ifugaos demonstrated that even without access to arable lands on the plains, rice farming is possible and can be sustained for centuries in the mountainous regions.

In fact, Halos lists Ifugao terrace farming as one of the five methods to cultivate rice, the others being: clearing or kaingin; upland (using rice varieties that need less water); sabog or broadcast method; and transplanting or Chinese rice culture.

The only problem of the rice terraces is its low yields, which according to Halos, is less than one metric ton per hectare. The variety grown is a red fragrant variety that takes more time to mature compared to lowland rice.

However, the Ifugaos never resorted to using fertilizers or pesticides. Compost and animal manure are among the organic fertilizers used. Nor have the Ifugaos asked government to build irrigation systems for their terraces, because their rice fields have a “natural irrigation” system.

Halos even notes that besides its advanced irrigation system, Ifugao rice terrace farming is also noted for its pest control, weeding and fertilizing.

To contain pests, Barton observed that “when infected plants are found, all infected parts are picked off and burned or left in the hot sun to dry. In case a field is found to be badly infected, recourse is to have religious ceremonials. Rice pests are thought to have been originated by one of the highest deities, Bangauwan, in order to compel men to give [sacrifice] animals to him.”

The advantage of this organic type of farming is the soil’s fertility is maintained and even improved.

“Fertility is rarely a factor because the Ifugao method of agriculture tends to render a field more fertile year by year,” Barton said.

Nonetheless, a noted biotechnologist told The Manila Times that it is possible to increase the yields of the Ifugao rice terraces by using organic fertilizers produced with enzymes or co-enzymes and composts; and seed inoculants that increase the absorption of soil nutrients by a plant’s roots.

With the alarm raised toward unsustainable farming practices like the excessive use of chemicals on farms that can affect the long-term fertility of soils, the Ifugao method of rice farming deserves study as a solution to attain rice self-sufficiency, at least for the Philippines.

But the bad news is the younger generation of Ifugaos are no longer interested in the adopting the culture of their predecessors, which may result in the rice terraces having no caretakers. This is very bad news, because the rice that the Ifugaos grow is now gaining popularity in Europe as gourmet rice, which can command a high price there.

“The younger generation of the Ifugaos are leaving for the cities,” Cataring said.

Perhaps these young Ifugaos are not aware that their fathers, grandfathers and forefathers are one of the best rice farmers the world has ever seen. Or even the best the world has ever seen.

Lower mango yield blamed on climate change
MALOLOS CITY -- Agriculture officials yesterday blamed climate change, pest and disease for the decline of mango production in Bulacan this year. Bulacan has been noted as a major mango-producing province.

“The irregular rains have caused mango flowers to fall that leads to lesser mango fruit production this season,” said Christina Geronimo of the Bulacan Provincial Agriculture Office.

Geronimo also explained that it is also normal for mango trees to bear less fruits this year “since it is a biennial tree, it usually bear more fruits every other year.”

She said “since mango fruit production was heavy last year, it is expected that its yield will be lesser this year.”

Bong Bernardo, a mango orchard owner in Guiguinto, said pests and diseases also plagued his orchard, causing 80 percent decline in production.

“Marami ring mga bunga ang nasira dahil sa peste, na maaari ding dala ng pabagu-bagong panahon,” Bernardo said.

The decline in mango harvest this year was one of the topics in a techno forum held Tuesday in Peñaranda, Nueva Ecija, also a major mango- producing province.

Wilfredo Abesamis, president of the Mango Growers Association of Peñaranda, sadly noted that mango fruit production in their locality has only produced 10 percent of its normal yield this year compared last year.

Oscar Opina, a technical expert on mango from UPLB, explained that vigorous mango trees with many branches tend to attract insects that may cause tree and fruit diseases.

Opina also advised the farmers to employ sanitary and centerpruning of the trees after harvest time.

“This way, enough sunlight and air may penetrate the tree branches that may help drive away pests and the accompanying diseases that the pests carry,” Opina said.

Applying cultural management could bring robust fruit production. Emil G. Gamos www.journal.com.ph

Risks seen in rice campaign
Business World

PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s all-out campaign to ensure rice supplies amid skyrocketing prices risks sowing panic among Filipinos and raising the political and financial heat on her government.

Mrs. Arroyo fears hungry voters would take to the streets if rice shortages were to emerge and has taken extraordinary steps to guarantee sufficient supply but her public moves have helped increase prices, encouraged hoarding and stoked anxiety.

"I think the President probably feels that if she does not do anything, people will think that she does not care, that she is not taking any action," said Kwanchai Gomez, executive director of The Asia Rice Foundation, a regional research center.

"But I think she might have gone a bit too far that it could backfire."

A local economist, however, said the government was taking the appropriate steps to address the rice production problem, and in fact needed to do more with respect to distribution and research.

Rolando T. Dy, executive director of the University of Asia and the Pacific’s Center for Food and Agribusiness said the government had crafted sound food production programs but should do more in terms of distribution of cheap rice and research.

"On the production side, I think the government already has the solution and that is the FIELDS program. The key is implementation. It should make sure that the Department of Agriculture works hand in hand with the local governments to make sure it succeeds," he told BusinessWorld in a telephone interview.

Mrs. Arroyo bared the P43.7-billion FIELDS (Fertilizer, Irrigation, Education and training of farmers and fisher folk, Loans, Dryers and other post-harvest facilities, and Seeds of the high-yielding and hybrid varieties) program during last week’s National Food Summit. On Wednesday, meanwhile, the Agriculture department announced that it had created an "Eminent Persons Task Force" to help oversee the program’s implementation.

As one of the world’s biggest importers of rice, the Philippines has had to take action to secure supply of its national staple ahead of a traditional lean period in the third quarter.

The country, which imports around 10% of its annual requirement, aims to have a 30-day stockpile in July-September but as of March 20 government reserves only covered two weeks.

Mrs. Arroyo, who has faced long-running allegations of corruption and vote fraud, is renowned for reacting forcefully to threats against her and the potential rice risk was no different.

Earlier this year, she contacted the Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung to secure a supply of up to 1.5 million tons of rice for this year, stealing a march on other importing nations now facing export curbs by Hanoi and India.

She has also promised more funding to farmers, vowed to crackdown on hoarding and plans to effectively remove an import tariff for private buyers.

But in a move viewed as alar-mist by some analysts, Mrs. Arroyo also asked fast-food joints to start selling half portions of rice and deployed soldiers armed with M16s to supervise government sales of the grain.

A spokesman for the National Food Authority (NFA) admitted this week that security measures such as marking the fingers of buyers of cheap government rice with indelible ink to ensure they don’t buy more than their allotted amount, had scared some people.

"We want our distribution to be convenient and not intimidating for poor families," Rex Estoperez of the NFA told local radio this week.

The government’s very public campaign to ensure supply has created a sort of artificial crisis with poorer people queuing for hours in the heat to stockpile state-subsidized rice.

Manila’s more frequent rice tenders have also boosted international prices, which in some cases have more than doubled this year, hiking the government’s import bill and the cost of subsidising the grain.

The Philippines has said it wants to import up to 2.2 million tons of rice for this year, which would be its biggest purchase of the grain in a decade. So far, it has bought 1.2 million tons and is holding a tender for 500,000 tons on April 17.

"They are kind of fanning the fire," said one Manila-based trader of the government’s measures. "I would interpret the series of tender schedules as panicky."

"If you are an ordinary Filipino from the surface it seems like something is wrong, like we are running out. But from where I sit, I think it’s a case of them making sure that everybody gets something."

The rice crisis is also putting pressure on the country’s finances.

In a recent research note, investment bank Credit Suisse calculated that the government could lose up to $1.3 billion or 0.7% of gross domestic product (GDP) this year by importing up 2.6 million tons of rice at climbing world prices and selling it at lower prices domestically.

Having whipped up consumer fears with her efforts to be visibly on top of the situation, the best way for Mrs. Arroyo to calm them down is to ensure adequate supply and to tone down the government’s more extreme responses, analysts say.

"I think it’s a confidence game at this juncture," said Song Seng Wun, economist with CIMB-GK Research in Singapore. "You cannot fight fear sometimes with just trying to explain things out."

Mr. Dy, meanwhile, said the government must come up with measures to ensure that the cheap rice would benefit the poorest Filipinos.

"The best way [to distribute rice] is to have a master list of the poor from the local government units (LGUs) and DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development). The poor should be provided with a coupon or an ID," he said.

Mr. Dy also called on the government to further promote agricultural research and to address the lack of technical experts in the agriculture sector.

"Our technicians are already old. The government can tap the skills of those from state universities and colleges who are capable of providing technical services. The funding for research must also be increased," he said.

Mr. Dy also recommended the revisiting of the 50% rice import tariff, which he said, discourages the private sector from importing rice.

"The 50% tariff is a non-starter. If you allow the private sector to import, you should give them something that would enable them to post margins. We should start thinking of lowering it," he said.

The rice tariff, he added, must be flexible and should be dependent on world prices.

"The pricing of rice should be on the basis of balancing the producers’ and the consumers’ interests," he said.

Mr. Dy also cited the need to come up with educational campaigns that would promote alternatives to rice such as sweet potato, squash, and cassava.

With regard to the hoarding problem, Mr. Dy said the government must narrow the gap between the prices of NFA rice and commercial rice.

"The moment you institute less price differential between NFA rice and commercial rice, there will be no more hoarders," he said, adding that this would ease demand for subsidized rice.

The NFA currently sells rice at P18.25 per kilo, much lower than the commercial price of P30-50 per kilo. On Wednesday, the Departmen

t of Agriculture said it was looking at increasing the NFA price, citing heavy losses.

No amounts or dates have been announced.

Indon rice farming model eyed for RP (http://www.mb.com.ph/BSNS20080411121563.html)

By MELODY M. AGUIBA

The "nucleus plasma" model of big business-small farmer partnership in Indonesia may work well to help raise the country’s grains production specially at these critical times.

Leveraging on the management expertise of big businesses and on the land and labor supply of farmers, the model can increase grains (corn and rice) production given incentives from government.

The real factor, though, to the productivity and sustainability of this model is the "ownership" advantage of the stakeholders.

Ownership of a venture is the true incentive to businesses or entrepreneurship, according to Mariano Cordero, Asian Development Bank (ADB) consultant, in an interview.

Unlike the models being introduced now under the National Agribusiness Corp.’s (Nabcor) corn processing program where most of the partnerships are with local government units (LGUs), a partnership between companies and farmers can be sustainable since conducting a business is really the private sector’s function.

Once LGU leadership changes, any present government project can be immediately abandoned and turns into a white elephant.

Nucleus plasma, arising from the living cell’s nucleus "strengths" (such as business management) and plasma’s provision of supportive habitat to the nucleus, may be applicable to any crop.

The model may also be apt for rice, although with certain modifications, according to Hyrice Seed Tech Inc. President Benito M. Domingo.

"This model has the advantage of providing leadership, direction, and entrepreneurship in agriculture. This may be sustainable (for grains rice and corn) which have two croppings a year, although its application in rice is really still in the concept stage," he said.

Since there can be a more adequate land preparation system in the rice sector (compared to corn) in the country, Domingo said the business model may be applied through the introduction of a mechanized system of rice harvest which can save 10 percent of rice’s post harvest loss through the use of a harvesting combine machine.

A combine system, which has ready-to-mill rice grains as an end product, cuts rice stalks and threshes the grain at the same time.

Suppliers of the combine system service in Thailand, world’s second largest rice producer, are normally profit-oriented private service contractors, he said.

Given incentives from government through lowinterest, collateral-free loans and tax-free importation as provided under the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act, entrepreneurs inclined on more capital-intensive businesses can embark on this.

While a mechanized harvester can displace labor, providing mechanization now will enable the PHIlippines to prepare for a worldwide trend toward farmers’ exodus, specially the young ones, from agriculture.

The combine system, now costing around P5 million for a five-hectare capacity over eight hours, can save 10 cavans of harvest per hectare.

Cordero said the nucleus plasma model, successful in palm oil and pineapple production in Indonesia, may be ideal in an integrated, fully-mechanized, large hectarage corn production business.

While small farmers may not be able to provide capital for acquiring machines, big businesses can pay up for this.

This is crucial for an integrated corn businesses’ economies of scale. Such venture requires machines for land preparation (tractors for 12-inch deep tilling for the plant to develop deeper roots and better moisture-nutrient retention), mechanical planters that can plant up to 70,000 hills per hectare compared to manual planting’s 30,000 hills, drying-handling machines that can produce aflatoxin-free corn, and a combine system.

This integrated system has enabled the United States, one of world’s largest corn producers, to achieve a yield of 10 metric tons (MT) per hectare while the Philippines’s is only at a national average of less than three MT.

The model can benefit small farmers through better cash flow, more affordable full production costs, better hedge on prices due to storage facility availability that lengthens shelf life, and increased demand for more quality grain.

"This can impact on a major crop of 1.5 million small farmers and alternate crop for two million others (and can generate) foreign exchange savings from feed, meat, fuel (import) substitution," said Cordero.

Tie-ups between big businesses and small farmers here will involve a management contract on farm mechanization and profit sharing, an agreement on straight land lease based on yield and on lease purchase on equipment use.

"The key is on building mutual trust in partnership, transparency in operations, and equitable distribution of profits and risks," he said.

This increased production in corn has become more essential now with increased demand for corn, corn-based biofuel, and potentially corn-based bioplastic.

Where’s the Gloria rice?
COMMONSENSE By Marichu A. Villanueva
PhilStar
http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Opinion&p=49&type=2&sec=25&aid=20080410127

The problem with the government-subsidized rice of the National Food Authority being sold as commercial rice at much higher prices is like a déjà vu happening over and over again. So, there is nothing new about this illegal racket at the NFA. Obviously, the solutions applied to address this perennial problem have merely evolved into another form of modus operandi.

President Arroyo announced yesterday she might order the removal of NFA rice being sold in public markets and let the NFA sell them directly to depressed communities. She admitted they have caught some unscrupulous NFA officials conniving with rice traders who divert lower-priced NFA rice intended for the poor and sold as commercial rice for more than P30 per kilo, or double the NFA price. This is because NFA rice and commercial rice are almost of the same good quality.

Apparently this is how the President is trying to douse the public furor stirred by bright boys at the NFA who announced their plans to raise the NFA price to mitigate the agency’s annual losses due to NFA price support via subsidy to palay produce of farmers and rice for the benefit of poor consumers. The NFA rice is currently sold at P18.25 a kilo in accredited NFA sellers in public markets while they buy palay, or unmilled rice from the farmers, at P17 a kilo.

The phenomenon of rising prices of rice and other commodities is a global reality and not happening only in the Philippines. According to Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, we have no problem of rice supply because we produce 90 percent of our requirements for this national staple. We import the rest as buffer stock during lean months of rice production and for emergency in case of natural calamities, especially when rice farms are damaged.

If the official assurance of Yap is not good enough, perhaps we could accept the independent assessment made by the United Nations’ World Food Program (WFP) country director to the Philippines Valerie Guarnieri. I saw her interview on a TV news program last week when she allayed fears of a food crisis in the Philippines. Guarnieri cited the Philippine government could fill up the remaining 10 to15 percent by just making “extra efforts” to get official commitments that we could import rice and other food stocks needed in our country.

So far, the government has already secured an official commitment from Vietnam and possibly from Thailand also soon. But rice importation is just a quick-fix solution and in fact, even frowned upon by our farmers. This is naturally because Filipino farmers would be displaced again by imported rice.

Our rice farmers, as far as I could remember, have improved much their productivity in terms of better and high-yielding rice. As far back as 2003, the Department of Agriculture introduced the use of hybrid rice seed variety that was developed in China and transplanted in the Philippines under the name “Gloria” rice. Obviously it was named after the President. Your guess is as good as mine why this hybrid rice variety has to be named after her.

To promote the use of “Gloria” rice seed variety, the DA subsidized the sale of the farmers’ seed inputs at P2,000 per bag. Farmers found out that their use of this “Gloria” rice seed variety doubled their produce to from six to seven metric tons per hectare compared to their usual three to four metric tons if they use only certified seeds. The NFA distributed and sold the “Gloria” rice at subsidized price, too, for the consumers. In fact, the NFA distribution of “Gloria” rice even became a campaign booster for Mrs. Arroyo during the May 2004 presidential elections.

The success of this “Gloria” hybrid rice seed program was noticed by our international lenders who questioned the government subsidy to our rice farmers and consumers. At that time, there was the issue of widening government budget deficit. Thus, any form of government subsidy is a no-no to our meddling foreign lenders. From then on, nothing has been heard again about the “Gloria” rice. With so much fuss about the feared food crisis, where is the “Gloria” rice that could provide the answer to this problem?

Although there is no sense to push the panic button, a rice-sensitive issue President Arroyo and her Cabinet had to come up with big numbers like some P43.75 billion worth of solutions to be implemented over the next two and a half years remaining of her administration. The bulk of this amount is the P15 billion micro-finance for agriculture loans plus P6 billion for irrigation and another P6 billion for farm-to-market roads plus P2 billion for provision of national driers. It reminded me of the typical solution “to throw money to the problem.” But I am glad to learn from Yap that P2.7 billion of this total amount would be used to revive the hybrid rice seed program of the government to be used in some 900,000 hectares of ricelands all over the country from 2009 to 2010.

When my uncle who has turned to rice and corn farming in his home province in Barangay Lepa, in Malasiqui, Pangasinan visited us last weekend, I asked him about his take on this supposed looming rice crisis in the country. My uncle has a simple appreciation of the problem. He cited the particular situation of rice farmers like him in Malasiqui which is composed of 72 barangays. They have no NFA, no mechanical driers, and no farm-to-market road. The price of urea has gone up from P850 per bag two months ago to P1,030. While it has nothing to do with farming, my uncle deplored they don’t even have a steady electricity service.

My uncle was not even asking for national government assistance for the farmers. But he rightfully noted that scarce government resources could be put to better use like channeling the “pork-barrel” funds of members of Congress for the construction of agricultural infrastructure facilities and making sure they don’t end up in corruption that has crept down to the grassroots level.

To finally put a stop to endemic corruption, Filipinos must learn to stop “mimicking” their politicians. That should be included in the “Whereas” clause of the proposed bill filed recently by a member of Congress.

Corruption behind P2-B loss in NFA rice — ex-chief
By JESS DIAZ
The Philippine Star / ABS-CBN
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=114793


A former administrator of the National Food Authority (NFA) on Friday said P2 billion in taxpayers’ money were lost to corruption after the food agency sold more than seven million bags of newly imported rice to private traders.

Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, meanwhile, accused Malacañang of merely floating an "artificial rice crisis" to justify the importation of more rice from other Asian countries to rake in more money in a discreet fund-raising campaign for the 2010 presidential elections.

Nueva Ecija Rep. Edno Joson, who was NFA administrator during the time of former President Joseph Estrada, said, "Clearly there was collusion to defraud the government between corrupt NFA officials and the buyers."

Joson was reacting to The STAR report on Thursday about the findings of government auditors that NFA lost P2.13 billion when it sold 7.2 million bags of imported rice to traders in 2005.

"NFA can sell to traders, but at a profit, not at a loss," he said, adding that his former agency should have recovered the full cost of importation.

He urged concerned officials, including the Office of the Ombudsman, to investigate the sale and to go after those responsible for the huge loss.

In its findings, the Commission on Audit (COA) said more than P2 billion in taxpayers’ money went down the drain as a "result of giving undue advantage to affluent rice traders through subsidized selling prices, instead of the poor consumers."

"By any stretch of the imagination, it is not difficult to conclude that these affluent awardees/buyers/traders are not deserving of subsidy from the NFA," it said.

The findings indicated that the buyers made a killing by immediately turning around and selling the stocks, possibly even before paying the NFA.

Based on the cost of importation, COA valued the 7.2 million bags of imported rice at P8,846,823,927, but NFA sold it only for P6,712,493,513, or a staggering loss of P2.13 billion.

It said that while the NFA had resolved to recover the full cost of importation, including freight and insurance, it later inexplicably sold at a loss.

"In essence, the NFA subsidized the winning bidders since not all the costs in acquiring the imported stocks were recovered. It also turned out that the immediate beneficiaries of the NFA were no longer the low-income consumers of rice, but rather the more affluent and enterprising group in the grains industry," COA said.

It said the sale to traders "created another level of trading, which inevitably resulted in higher prices to consumers."

COA said the winning bidders were not the ones who withdrew their stocks but designated other persons to do that job for them. "There were cases where several winning bidders authorized only one and the same person, which is indicative of sale before withdrawal (of stocks)."

Even farmers’ organizations, which were allotted 20 percent of the volume auctioned or more than one million bags, sent other persons to get their stocks, it said.

"The sheer volume of rice stocks awarded to and bought by farmers’ organizations strongly suggests that they likewise belong to the affluent rice farmers/traders, contrary to the contention of (NFA) management," it said.

The government would have earned an additional P248.2 million had the stocks been sold to the highest bidder or had other bidders been required to match the best bid, it said.

‘Fund-raising ploy’

Binay, who joined pardoned former President Estrada in the continuation of the latter’s "Lakbay Pasasalamat" in Mindoro, said he received information that Malacañang has started its fund-raising for the 2010 presidential elections.

He said the Arroyo administration is now conditioning the minds of the people that there is a rice crisis to justify its importation, and is using the NFA as front for its fund-raising for the 2010 elections.

"One of my informants told me that the rice crisis is artificial and there is no shortage at all. Let us assume the commission for the broker of the importation of rice is $10 per ton. If the government will import two million tons then that would be a huge commission at the expense of the people," he said.

"The sufficient rice production in Central Luzon, Mindoro, Iloilo and Antique contradicts the government’s claims of scarcity in the production of rice. "Apparently, there is no need to import huge amount of rice," Binay said.

The feisty Makati mayor said the pronouncement earlier of Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez that the government can declare a state of emergency and take over rice trading firms found to be hoarding rice is part of the government’s ploy to justify its importation of rice.

Estrada, for his part, said the NFA is known for its notoriety involving huge "kickbacks" every time it imports rice, and it is not farfetched that the Arroyo administration is now starting its fund-raising campaign for the 2010 elections.

He said the Arroyo administration has proven during the 2004 presidential elections that it can and will use all government funds to ensure its continued hold on power.

Estrada said the claim of the Arroyo administration that there is a rice shortage in the country may also be intended to divert the attention of the people from the various anomalies that are being investigated by the Senate, such as the national broadband network (NBN) deal of the Arroyo administration with the China-based ZTTE firm.

‘Barking up the wrong tree’

A visibly irked President Arroyo meanwhile told officials of the National Bureau of investigation (NBI) and the NFA to focus on rice hoarding and profiteering and not on smuggling.

The President appeared irritated when NBI and NFA officials informed her that they found violations in the import documents of some of the warehouses they visited.

"You are barking up the wrong tree," Mrs. Arroyo said. She explained that since they have liberalized the importation on rice, "there is no illegal importation per se."

"The concern is hoarding and profiteering. We do not have enough investigative manpower to run over everything. The rice abroad is more expensive than the rice here... (We should) put effort on hoarding and profiteering. Do not be distracted," she added.

She also instructed the two agencies to attend to the illegal activities of some traders who re-mill NFA rice and sell it as commercial rice.

Crackdown causing panic

But a top NFA official on Friday said the raids being conducted by law enforcement agencies on rice warehouses are causing panic among legitimate traders and may further worsen the rice crisis facing the government.

NFA spokesman Rex Estoperez said the raids have sent a "chilling effect" to the rice trading industry, as they perceive they are being singled out.

"The crackdown will mess up the coming harvest season since traders will be hesitant to continue their business," he said.

Estoperez insisted that there is no shortage of rice, contrary to reports, and they have enough buffer stock of rice.

He said the much publicized rice shortage is yet to come but people are already panicking and are beginning to hoard stocks which contributed to the increased demand of rice.

"People are lining up for cheap rice at NFA because of the negative reports about rice shortage. There is no rice shortage but there is a rice price crisis," he said.

The NFA spokesman also said some sectors are taking advantage of the rice crisis to further their political agenda and that detractors of the President are using the issue to blackmail the government by threatening to go on rice holiday if the crackdown continues.

Smuggled rice held

In a related development, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) on Friday seized two shipments of alleged smuggled rice worth P12.6 million at the North Harbor in Manila.

Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales said operatives of the bureau’s Intelligence and Investigation Service confiscated the shipments after their owner, Jubilee Multi Tech Inc., failed to present necessary transport permit from the NFA.

"We want to make sure that the smugglers will not be able to take advantage of high prices of commodities, especially rice. We at the BOC recognize the tight rice supply problem in the country today," Morales stressed.

The shipments arrived aboard Carrier Vessel 2-GO 1 last March 19 at the Port of Manila (POM) and Manila International Container Port (MICP) either from Port of Cagayan de Oro or Port of Zamboanga.

He admitted they have yet to determine the origin of the seized shipments of rice, which have been turned over to the NFA. Officials said the smuggled rice might be sold to the public at an auction.

Morales also assured that the BOC would continue to strictly monitor entry of imported rice into the country despite the lifting of the benchmark on the regulated product.

Supplemental budget

Meanwhile, Senate President Manuel Villar Jr. said the Executive department should consider sending a supplemental budget to Congress to fund the agricultural and fisheries program that President Arroyo recommended during the food summit in Clark Field, Pampanga.

Villar said "funding authority" was required if some of the funds eyed in the six-point food production plan were not covered by the national budget approved for this year.

He noted that a supplemental budget would "mean more accountability and transparency in its spending."

"The Constitution is clear on this: No money can leave the treasury without an appropriation from Congress," Villar said.

But if the Executive will argue that projects mulled for implementation in the program are already in the P1.227-trillion national budget, then the conclusion is that no new projects were launched because the President simply repackaged what were already in the law, Villar noted.

CBCP: Address agrarian reform problems
ABS-CBN
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryID=114794

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines' (CBCP) National Rural Congress (NRC) said on Friday that the government's years of neglect of the agrarian reform program and the agriculture sector is to blame for the country's rice problem.

The CBCP said 20 years have passed since the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) was enacted, yet 1.3 million hectares, or 80 percent of the 1.5 million hectares of land under CARP remain undistributed to the farmers.

The CBCP believes the implementation of genuine land reform is the solution to ensure the steady supply of rice since farmers will be motivated to increase their production if they own the land they till.

Cagayan de Oro Archbishop Antonio Ledesma added that agrarian reform translates into faster agricultural development.

The agrarian reform program will end by June 2008, but the CBCP is appealing to government to extend and reform it.

Govt’s import dependence hit

They also criticized government's dependence on rice importation.

"Mas sigurado ‘yong tayo ang magtatanim kaysa ‘yong aasa ka sa importasyon ng iba," said Dr. Teodoro Mendoza, CBCP-NRC consultant and professor at the University of the Philippines – Los Baños.

Crisis to worsen

CBCP consultant and former agriculture secretary Leonardo Montemayor meanwhile warned the rice crisis will worsen in September if government fails to secure its 3-month-buffer supply of rice for the lean months of July to September when there is no harvest.

If this happens, the price of rice will even get higher, Montemayor said.

"Unscrupulous traders will take advantage and will sell only in September pag wala nang supply, kaya mas tataas ang presyo," Montemayor said.

The CBCP criticized the government's lack of a master plan for the country's rice program.

They said unless this is addressed, the security of the country's rice supply will continue to remain unstable.

High prices of rice to remain for two years
Focus on looking for solutions, not on panicking, say rice experts
Manila Times
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/apr/12/yehey/top_stories/20080412top1.html

Rice prices are likely to keep rising for some time as production of the popular cereal fails to keep up with soaring demand, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) said Friday.

The institute is based in Los Baños town, Laguna province, south of Manila.

Speaking also in Los Baños during a meeting called by the institute’s board of trustees, an official of an Asian rice organization said the currently high prices of the staple of millions worldwide will last for 24 more months.

“There is no possibility of rice prices going down in the next two years,” said M. Syeduzzaman, chairman of BOC Bangladesh Ltd., Bank Asia Limited, Bangladesh Rice Foundation.

Philippine Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, who was also at the meeting, explained that rice prices are determined by production costs, exports, fertilizers, weather changes, and other factors.

Yap said the institute’s trustees told him that the Philippines is not among the 33 to 36 countries that are already experiencing social unrest because of the soaring rice prices. He mentioned, though, that the country has 4.7 million families that are vulnerable, and 2.7 million most vulnerable, under such trend.

He announced that he will meet with Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte, Caloocan City Mayor Echiverri, Mandaluyong City Mayor Benhur Abalos, and Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim today to ask for their help in identifying the vulnerable families in their cities.

Yap said he will also tap local-government units to help the Agriculture department identify such families.

Dr. Robert Zeigler, director general of the IRRI, said the Philippines has already secured import supplies from Vietnam and other countries, aside from the domestic production of the country. He said that if ever the country experienced problems in importing rice to shore up its requirements, it can look at roots crops as alternatives.

The IRRI trustees stressed that the situation at present is not about rice shortage but more on “rice-price crisis.”

They called on the international community, particularly donors, to start focusing on solutions to the rice-price crisis.

“Increased production is needed to ease the sharp rise in rice prices that has swept across the region, causing uncertainty and concern,” the institute’s trustees said.

Possible solutions

Prof. Elizabeth Woods, the newly appointed board chairman, said “the problems related to rice production and supply in Asia over the past year or so are a cause for serious concern, but not for panic.”

The institute recommended heightened attention by the public and private sectors to six key areas: agronomic revolution in Asian rice production to reduce existing yield gaps; acceleration of delivery of new post-harvest technologies; stepping up of introduction of higher yielding rice varieties; strengthening and upgrading rice breeding and research pipelines; acceleration of research on the world’s thousands of rice varieties so scientists can tap the vast reservoir of untapped knowledge they contain; and development of a new generation of rice scientists and researchers for the public and private sectors.

Threat of unrest

IRRI earlier warned of potential civil unrest as governments struggle to provide cheap rice amid a sustained rise in prices over the past two years to near-record levels.

“Longer term demand-supply imbalance is clearly indicated by depletion of stock that has been going on for years, the latest edition of the institute’s publication Rice Today quoted IRRI economist Sushil Pandey as saying.

“We have been consuming more than what we have been producing and research to increase rice productivity is needed to address this imbalance,” Pandey added.

Just 7 percent of the annual global production of the grain, a staple food of more than three billion people mostly living in the developing world, is traded in the international market. This apparently minimal trading, IRRI explained, stems from rice being seen as a political commodity and governments strive to maintain large stocks to guard against large price swings.

The institute said it had convened a group of experts to draw up a list of possible solutions to the crisis and they agreed that raising yields was the only long-term solution.

It added that the crisis was affecting both the urban poor as well as rice farmers who till small plots that cannot produce enough even for their own families’ use.

“Although the current rising rice price was seen as beneficial for farmers who grow a reasonable surplus that they can sell on the market, poor farmers with small or no surplus and poor urban consumers will continue to lose out if the price continues to rise,” the institute said.

Its head, Leo Sebastian, urged governments to increase investment in agricultural research.

“The impact of technologies is a driver of increased rice production, whether a country exports or imports,” he said.

“But everybody is saying that investment in agricultural research is small or limited—and something needs to be done about this,” Sebastian added.

The Philippines beefing up its supposedly precarious supply of rice, the Filipinos’ staple, through importations, according to government critics, is an “ostrich policy.”

Opposition calls for truth

Rather than continuing with sourcing rice from abroad, the spokesman of the United Opposition, lawyer Adel Tamano, on Friday asked the government to map out instead a long-term food security plan. He said the government is not telling the truth on the rice situation.

“The government’s claim that there is no rice crisis but only a price crisis is plain insensitivity to the plight of the masses. The net effect on the poor [of this claim] is the same since [the poor] don’t have enough money to buy rice. Then, even if there is technically no shortage, the poor will still end up hungry,” Tamano said.

He added that the government should apologize for failing to prevent rice hoarding, instead of offering “technical excuses.”

Another member of the political opposition, San Juan City Mayor Joseph Victor Ejercito, son of former President Joseph Estrada, said the rice shortage had been caused by “misgovernance.” Unlike his father, Ejercito added, President Gloria Arroyo has failed to give top priority to the agricultural sector.

Color-coding rice

Hoarding, according to House Speaker Prospero Nograles, could be curbed through “color-coding” of government and commercial rice. His idea is to put food coloring on both varieties to make it easier for consumers to differentiate them. Traders hoarding good-quality government rice, which they later pass off as commercial rice, will then be easily traceable, Nograles said.

Ensuring that the subsidized rice gets to its intended beneficiaries, the poor, can be realized through a “poverty map,” said Manila Rep. Trisha Bonoan-David. Such map, she said, will enable the government to pinpoint where the National Food Authority (NFA) rice that it subsidizes at more than P18 per kilo can be bought by those who can afford it least.

Imports arrive

The government, meanwhile, continues to import rice. Also on Friday, 395,000 bags of rice from Thailand, Vietnam, and other countries arrived at Subic Bay Freeport in Zambales province, north of Manila. This shipment brought to 1,828,186 the total number of bags that has been unloaded at the freeport since February this year.

Jaime Juan, Zambales provincial manager of the NFA, said the latest arrival will be for distribution to Region 2 and Region 3. It is part of the 2.1 million metric tons that the government plans to import this year, he added.

Rice and sugar imports valued at P25 million were confiscated by the Bureau of Customs also on Friday. Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales said the items found inside container vans were seized after their owner failed to show a transport permit from the NFA.

Customs officials said the rice and sugar imports arrived at Port of Manila and Manila International Container Port on March 19 from Zamboanga City and Cagayan de Oro City.

Iloilo pushes Cardaba banana as substitute to rice

By RHODA A. GARZON
ABS-CBN Iloilo

Iloilo City – The Iloilo Provincial Agriculture Office (IPAO) is pushing for Cardaba as a substitute to rice especially that the country is facing a food crisis.

The provincial government believes that this can help augment the lack of food in the table.

Cardaba is a specie of banana that originated somewhere in Mindanao. It is taller and bigger compared to the ordinary banana plant.

It can bear as much as 10 to 14 bunches. A regular banana plant such as "sab-a" can bear roughly around 6 to 7 bunches only.

Dr. Ildefonso Toledo, Iloilo Provincial Agriculturist, said that whether there is food crisis or not they will still push for Cardaba as an option.

IPAO also stressed that Cardaba has a potential for export and would eventually be a good source of economic activity for the farmers.

IPAO has started to invest in Cardaba.

In fact, of the 1,000 hectares of banana plantation, ten hectares was dedicated to growing Cardaba. The provincial agriculture nursery found at La Granja in La Paz houses eight to ten Cardaba banana plants.

Winnie Grabato, provincial banana coordinator makes sure that weekly monitoring is conducted to ensure productivity.

However, Ildefonso and Grabato lamented that they still need ample support to develop Cardaba. They just hope that the provincial government will be their backbone in this worthy cause. This is through providing enough budget in order to come up with programs that will push increased production of Cardaba.
www.abs-cbnnews.com

Rice: a policy blind spot
By Randy David
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 02:02:00 04/12/2008
http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20080412-129890/Rice-a-policy-blind-spot

MANILA, Philippines—The growing queues of the urban poor seeking their daily ration of rice are images suffused with political meaning. Any regime that knows its politics cannot fail to see great danger looming ahead. For nothing illustrates more sharply a crisis spinning out of control than angry people scrambling for food.

The Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo government is aware of this, and so it is adopting quick-fix measures to avert an imminent disaster. It is scouring the cereal markets of the world for available rice and wheat at any price. It is threatening rice traders who may be hoarding rice with instant imprisonment. It is enlisting the help of the religious sector, particularly the Catholic Church, to distribute the vanishing commodity.

Beyond these short-term survival measures, the government has no substantive program to ensure rice and food security in the country. We can grow rice ourselves or we can import it. Whatever lip service the government now pays to improving local rice production, it cannot deny that importation has long been its default answer to the country’s rice requirements. Importation through the National Food Authority is easier than rehabilitating an abandoned agricultural sector. But, more importantly, as every political operator knows, it is also a wonderful tool of patronage and a quick source of political funds.

It is not the first time the country has had a rice crisis. But past instances of rice scarcity were mainly caused by abnormal weather or a bad crop infestation. Rice importation was a contingency measure meant to address an exigency. Today, rice imports have become a permanent feature of our food situation, in much the same way the export of Filipino workers has become a major indispensable component of our employment program. As a result, we have become more vulnerable than ever to the instabilities of the global food market.

The present rice crisis resonates with perturbations in global demand and supply that are beyond our control. Food prices are going up everywhere, echoing the phenomenal rise in the price of petroleum products. There is very little that a small nation like ours can do to reverse this situation.

But we can do something to shield ourselves from the worst effects of what appears to be a long-term global food crisis. We can start growing our basic food requirements all over again even if it may seem foolish today to aim for anything near self-sufficiency. Our country is blessed with abundant agricultural land, even if we have become almost totally oblivious of its productive value by treating it merely as vacant space.

It would require tremendous will on the part of our national leadership to accomplish this, but this is what political responsibility ultimately means. We have to begin with a clear-minded review of how a once-thriving agricultural economy threw away its natural advantages in exchange for the short-term gains of a service economy based primarily on the earnings of exported workers.

No one will surely claim responsibility for this disastrous shift. For indeed the sad story of Philippine agriculture is a long complex narrative of unsound choices forced upon people, and a policy environment that consigned agriculture to benign neglect. It is not an exaggeration to say that over the last three decades at least, our leaders have, by their routine decisions and directives, discouraged Filipinos from pursuing agriculture as a way of life. As a result, farming schools and colleges of agriculture, that once flourished all over the country, have declined in importance or have realigned their courses away from farming in order to survive.

We bind the future by what we do or fail to do in the present. By launching an agrarian reform program shot through with loopholes, we forced landowners to stop planting while waiting to effect the reclassification or conversion of their property to non-agriculture use. By not giving them support services, we forced small farmers and land reform beneficiaries to sell their farms and use the money to get overseas work. By importing rice in large quantities in order to assure steady supply at regulated prices, we made it difficult for local rice growers to sell at prices that would allow them to recover their costs.

The dismantling of agriculture in our country is indeed not a deliberate policy. It has been accomplished rather by a series of thoughtless omissions. These omissions are the direct result of a way of seeing the world through the sole prism of money remittances from overseas Filipino workers. This perspective has exiled Philippine agriculture to a policy blind spot.

By this amazing act of willful blindness, we have failed to see what the widening patches of idle farm lands all over the country are telling us. We have not noticed the overnight sprouting of housing projects on what used to be fertile irrigated farm lands. The easy availability of cheap imported rice has concealed from the general public the crisis of local agriculture. The steady yearly outflow of Filipino workers, now beyond the one million mark, has failed to alarm us. For we have conditioned ourselves to associate it only with the inflow of remittances, rather than with the collapse of the rural economy.

The rice crisis, which can only become serious, forces us into a “gestalt switch”—a change of frame that will allow us hopefully to see what our blind spots have hidden from us.

Palace warned of looming fertilizer shortage
Monday, April 14, 2008
PhilStar
http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Headlines&p=49&type=2&sec=24&aid=20080413114

The chairman of the House agriculture committee warned Malacañang yesterday of an impending fertilizer shortage that would aggravate the scarcity in rice and corn this April-to-August planting season.

To address this, Palawan Rep. Abraham Mitra urged President Arroyo to temporarily disallow the exportation of raw materials for the production of fertilizer, particularly sulfur, sulfuric acid and pyrite.

“The role of fertilizers in the production of rice and corn cannot be underestimated – less fertilizer means lesser yield. Hence, proper fertilization brings about optimum yield,” he said.

“We cannot afford another shortage especially in farm inputs. The existing rice shortage is problematic enough to be aggravated by a shortage in fertilizer,” he said.

He said the current instability in the supply of fertilizer products and the concomitant surge in their prices is a global problem that started in 2005 when China increased its importation of fertilizer raw materials, specifically sulfur.

China’s sulfur consumption cornered 30 percent of global supply, forcing prices to increase from $25 in 2002 to $750 per metric ton in 2008, causing a severe shortage in world supply.

Mitra said the Leyte-based Philippine Associated Smelting and Refining Corp. is among companies that benefit from high prices as it exports large amount of sulfuric acid.

“The downside to the country, however, is that we may suffer a deficit in the production of our own fertilizer. Which is why we should temporarily disallow the exportation of such raw material for at least six months,” he said.

Aside from disallowing the exportation of sulfuric acid, Mitra also proposed that the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources help the industry in finding alternative sources of raw materials for fertilizer to expedite the issuance of mining permits for pyrite and sulfur.

He said the government should likewise enjoin the industry to maximize its production so that the volume produced in excess of domestic demand could be used as leverage for buying rice and corn from countries like Vietnam and Thailand, which are in need of fertilizer for domestic production.

At the same time, he urged government financial institutions such as Development Bank of the Philippines, Land Bank of the Philippines and United Coconut Planters Bank to support fertilizer manufacturers, importers, dealers, distributors and cooperatives by lending them additional working capital.

Is hybrid rice the answer?
By Marianne Go
Monday, April 14, 2008
PhilStar
http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Headlines&p=49&type=2&sec=24&aid=20080413105

As the country faces a growing global food crisis, groups are debating whether hybrid rice is the answer to the rice supply problem.

Non-government organizations are urging the Department of Agriculture (DA) to promote the use of traditional rice varieties to rebuild the country’s rice stocks for long-term production rather than resort to high-yielding hybrid seeds.

The Rice Watch and Action Network (R1) and Centro Saka called on Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap to rely more on traditional rice varieties instead of promoting high yielding hybrid varieties, which the group said places small farmers at the mercy of private firms.

The two groups made the appeal as the country’s top hybrid rice producer announced it has planted at least 800,000 hectares of hybrid variety in the effort to make the country self-sufficient in rice.

Henry Lim Ben Liong, chairman and chief executive officer of SL Agritech Corp. stressed the great potential of hybrid rice (HR) in making the country self-sufficient because of its high yield.

At present, average production from traditional rice varieties only yields 3.8 tons per hectare or 76 cavans.

The average yield of hybrid rice variety is almost double at 6.5 tons per hectare, according to Director Frisco Malabanan of the government’s GMA rice program.

Malabanan added the country’s 4.2 million-hectare rice farmland has 300,000 hectares planted with hybrid varieties.

He said the country is expected to produce 17.3 million metric tons of palay, or 11.2 million MT of milled rice for this year but this could not fill domestic consumption at 12.1 million MT.

Lim, however, said the HR variety with its high yield harvest can considerably boost the country’s rice production program.

Lim said they have been planting the SL-8H hybrid rice variety which has been averaging a yield of eight to 10 tons per hectare.

Lim cited the testimonies of several farmers who tried planting the hybrid variety which they all claimed has given them financial rewards.

On the other hand, the Rice Watch and Action Network (R1) and Centro Saka groups argued the planting of hybrid rice variety also needs some chemicals from the private firms providing the seeds.

Jessica Cantos-Reyes of R1 said hybrid seeds can only be used one time, unlike traditional rice varieties which allow the farmers to reuse some of the harvested grains.

Because of its one time application, Reyes pointed out the farmers would have to regularly purchase more expensive hybrid seeds.

The hybrid seeds, Reyes further explained, do not require as much effort in planting, allowing the farmer to just throw and spread the seeds and apply ever increasingly expensive fertilizer to enhance their growth.

Although traditional rice seeds require a more tedious and methodical way of planting, Reyes said it is not as dependent on fertilizers and other chemical inputs, thus allowing for a more sustainable, though lower yield crop.

Reyes warned the promotion of hybrid seeds allows SL Agritech to corner the market.

While rebuilding the country’s rice stock may take a little longer, Reyes assured the growth would be sustainable over the long-term since small farmers would not be burdened by maintaining expensive hybrid seeds and chemical inputs.

Refocus

Centro Saka, for its part, said the government should begin investing and channeling resources to the provision of good seeds, irrigation facilities and other incentives that would encourage and enable the rice farmers to produce more food.

The P43.5 billion for rice production that has been declared for release by the President is no small change to a sector that has been perennially starved of funds, Centro Saka pointed out. The group warned the money has to be channeled correctly.

Centro Saka said the bulk of resources for grains production currently goes to hybrid rice production, which is the government’s centerpiece intervention in rice production.

This is contrary to the position taken by the country’s rice producers who have long rejected the Hybrid Rice Commercialization Program (HRCP) which began in 2001, Centro Saka argued.

The group claimed hybrid rice’s contribution to total rice production remains minimal at only 12 percent.

In contrast, good seeds contribute 50 percent of production, while certified seeds make up 38 percent.

Thus, it should be logical and fair for government to provide more funds to the sector that contributes the most, Centro Saka said.

The group warned that spending billions on the expensive hybrid rice program is a waste of government resources with no significant impact.

While hybrid rice may have the potential to plug the supply deficit temporarily, the costs are too steep in the long run, the group said.

The country’s seven-year experience with the hybrid variety showed the program caused a serious drain on government resources with only dismal returns.

Moreover, the damage to the environment by intensive use of chemical-based inputs for hybrid rice production is simply unacceptable, Centro Saka said.

“The administration’s fixation with hybrid rice, is based on the misguided belief that only hybrid rice can produce significant increases in production. This is completely false,” Centro Saka said.

In fact, even without expanding the area devoted to rice production, the Philippines can produce enough rice to feed its growing population, they said.

Reyes said one factor to improving production is to ensure irrigation of agricultural lands and put an end to land conversion for commercial use.

Arguments

A recent study made by SEARCA and PhilRICE said yields from good seeds and certified seeds can reach a maximum of 9 metric tons/hectare and 10 MT/ha., respectively.

Using the latest rice hectarage of 4,272,000 hectares, Centro Saka calculated the country can produce as much as 38,448,000 metric tons of palay or 29,904,000 MT of milled rice by using good seeds.

This is even assuming that milling recovery is only 60 percent which is the current national average, the group said.

With the use of certified seeds, rice production could go up to as high as 42,720,000 MT or about 25,632,000 MT of milled rice, Centro Saka said.

This is more than enough to wipe out the annual production short-falls and ensure rice self-sufficiency for our population, they said.

Actual field experience with farmer developed varieties also show that yields of up to 7 MT/ha. are achievable using organic farming practices, Centro Saka said.

This compares favorably to the less than 6 MT/ha. average yield for hybrid rice.

Rice farmers who employed the system of rice intensification managed to produced yields reaching as high as 9 MT/ha. Moreover, the small rice farmers have been reporting milling recovery rates that range between 70 to 75 percent, much higher than that registered by hybrid rice.

What is even more notable is that the small rice farmers were able to achieve this level of production without government support.

But the government, the group said, has not tapped the expertise of these organic rice farmers.

With the right mix of government support and rechanneling of resources to common-sense interventions like irrigation, post harvest facilities and research and development, more small rice farmers stand to produce more food on a less costly and more sustainable basis, Centro Saka said.

Neglect

Irrigation remains a crucial component of rice production and has been shown to contribute as much as 25 percent to production increases, Centro Saka pointed out.

The group claimed the government had neglected irrigation development for decades.

They cited the recent study made by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) which revealed the Philippines exhibited no growth in irrigated lands as compared to its neighbors in Southeast Asia.

Myanmar and Laos, the two poorest members of ASEAN managed seven percent and two percent growth, respectively.

Under the Arroyo administration, there was even a decline in irrigation development with new areas covered by irrigation dropping from 28,148 ha. in 2002 to only 12,127 ha. in 2004. Areas rehabilitated by the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) were almost halved from 269,665 in 2002 to 129,451 in 2004.

Irrigation data for 2006 shows that around 2.2 million hectares of the country’s rice lands are irrigated while 1.4 million hectares are rain-fed.

As much as 90 percent of currently rain-fed areas are irrigable, Centro Saka claimed.

If government manages to construct irrigation facilities in these irrigable lands, the country stands to add as much as 1.26 million hectares to the country’s irrigated lands, and potentially double current production yields, the group said.

Clearly, by simply providing farmers with good seeds, promoting organic rice farming and constructing additional irrigation facilities, government could set the country on the road to self-sufficiency in food production, the two groups stressed.

The groups said the government should focus on the implementation of the Rice Master Plan that small rice farmers have long been advocating.

Bagong peste sa pinya, nananalasa sa Camarines Norte


DAET, CAMARINES NORTE - Malaking dagok para sa mga magsasaka sa lalawigan ng Camarines Norte ang natuklasang bagong peste sa mga pinya na tinatawag na mealy bugs.

Nabatid na ang naturang peste ay siya ring umatake sa ilang lugar sa Central at Southern America noong mga nakalipas na taon.

Sa paliwanag ng Department of Agriculture, nadedevelop ang nasabing peste mula sa mainit ngunit mamasa-masang lugar.

Tinutuyo umano nito ang dahon at ugat ng mga pinya na siyang sanhi upang huwag ng mamunga ang alinmang tinatamaan nito.

Sa eksklusibong panayam ng Bombo Radyo kay Daet municipal mayor Tito Sarion, inamin nitong ramdam na agad ng mga magsasaka sa lalawigan ang masamang epekto ng mealy bugs lalo na at ito ang pangunahing produkto ng karamihan sa 12 bayan ng naturang lugar.

Matatandaang ang Camarines Norte ang lugar na pinanggagalingan ng Queen Formosa pineapple na pangunahing uri ng pinya na ini-export sa ibat-ibang panig ng mundo. www.bomboradyo.com

Decades of problems fall on Art Yap
DEMAND AND SUPPLY By Boo Chanco
PhilStar
http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Business&p=49&type=2&sec=27&aid=2008041511

I don’t know how Agriculture Secretary Art Yap feels about his present job but I am sure just waking up in the morning must now require a great amount of professionalism and patriotism. Somehow, decades of economic problems, decades of neglecting the agricultural sector, decades of not having a good population program and a new era of rising commodity prices have all combined in a perfect storm we now see as a rice crisis.

What can Art Yap really do in the short term? Nothing much except to make sure we have enough supply at any cost. There are no quick fix solutions to the problem. Actually, I don’t even think we have a rice crisis right now in terms of a shortage. The problem of this administration is as usual, it is losing the propaganda war due to its absence of credibility. Worse, Ate Glue’s press releases about some P40 billion being made available to produce more rice is giving the wrong impression that we can throw money at our problem and solutions will instantly materialize as in a vendo machine… making expectation and frustration levels rise even more.

There is something to worry about when government, out of panic, launches big budget programs to generate positive headlines overnight. I worry about the P15 billion announced to be available for microcredit to farmers. While such credit is badly needed, we will likely end up with another Quedancor hog raising scandal unless they have a good plan to properly distribute all that cash. The other question has to do with the absorptive capacity of the bureaucracy to productively take in such large amounts.

I have had enough conversations with Art Yap to know that he is the rare member of Ate Glue’s cabinet who has a long term view of how his sector must be handled. Art has enough business sense to know that the only way to drastically increase the country’s agricultural production is to make farming profitable for farmers. He knows the existing system of traders and usurers suck the lifeblood of farmers. He knows there are serious logistics and marketing problems that make farming unprofitable for farmers.

I have seen some of the pilot projects Art is implementing to address all that. But unfortunately for him, he must produce big results quickly. Small steps are nice but inadequate for our needs. As it happens, time just run out on Art Yap as the rice crisis fell on him like a ton of … imported rice. It is his unfortunate fate that something building up from decades of neglect, wrong policies and corruption happened in his watch.

It is like getting a heart attack. You have been smoking multiple packs a day, constantly eating lechon and other fatty food, drinking alcohol like there’s no tomorrow, has a stressful sedentary job, hardly ever seen a doctor or taken maintenance medicines but when the cardiac episode happens you are most surprised. As they say, the chickens do come home to roost.

Going back to rice, let us take it from an international expert.

Robert Ziegler, director-general of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), summed up the cause of the current rice crisis in these words: “The world has been eating more rice than it has been producing. We have seen for a number of years global rice stocks declining. And, of course, if your rice supply shrinks and demand grows, then you have an economic response—and that is higher prices.”

After a weeklong meeting of its board of trustees consisting of agriculture experts from various countries, IRRI distilled the main causes of the worldwide rice problem: population growth, leading to increased demand for more rice; production problems brought about by weather disturbances, such as storms and pest outbreaks; accelerated interest in biofuels and alternative fuels; conversion of prime rice farmlands from agricultural production to urban use; diversion of water from agriculture to other purposes; and reduced investments in agricultural research and infrastructure.

On all those counts, we simply had it coming… To fix the problem beyond the next lean season, we have to put a multifaceted program that will, among others, address runaway population growth, plan for consequences of weather changes, manage biofuels program to not compete for resources from food crops, stop conversion of prime rice farmland to other uses, vastly improve agricultural irrigation and increase investment in agricultural research and infrastructure.

In more specific terms, IRRI proposed six key points for both the public and private sectors. One, increase production to bridge the gap between actual yield and potential yield; two, accelerate the delivery of postharvest technologies, which includes storage, drying and processing of rice; three, accelerate the production of higher-yielding rice varieties; four, strengthen and upgrade rice breeding and research; five, accelerate research on the thousands of rice varieties around the world, including approximately 100,000 varieties in Asia where only 10 percent has been studied; and six, develop a new generation of scientists and researchers.

As we can easily see with the things we can do in the short, medium and long-term, the rice problem isn’t likely to be solved soon. But for today, tomorrow and the next few days, weeks and months, Art Yap’s problem is basically psychological… assuring supply.

Price is another thing altogether. In the international market, there isn’t much we can do to bring it down. On the contrary, our panic buying large volumes is feeding the price spiral. Every news item in the international press on the price of rice primarily blames the Philippines for the record high price of rice.

In the domestic market, price is a question of subsidies and police action. How much can government afford to lose in rice subsidies? Can law enforcement agencies adequately stop hoarding and price manipulation by the long established traders?

Someone in one of my e-groups in reaction to Art Yap’s comment that we don’t have a rice crisis but a rice price crisis wrote “Bakit naman kaya tumaas ang presyo? Hanep itong si Secretary Yap. Dapat sa kanya, pabalikin sa high school para ma-review niya ang law of supply and demand.”

Sa totoo lang, palagay ko alam naman ni Secretary Yap yung law of supply and demand which is precisely why he is assuring everyone that we have enough supply by showing all those bodegas full of it in the hope of moderating panic demand and rising prices. For now, we really don’t have a rice crisis. We have a 54-day buffer stock, ongoing harvests, and arriving importations. What we have is indeed, a rice price crisis. There is rice out there but because of low consumer buying power, people are lining up for subsidized NFA rice. That’s part of our chronic economic problems and mass poverty that’s beyond the exclusive turf of the Agriculture Secretary.

But, it is true, there is a shortage in our own rice production and that’s not something that can be solved in the short term. If it looks like Art is in crisis mode, it is because he is worried that if we are unable to import enough rice, then we will have an honest to goodness rice shortage and such a crisis will make the current headlines seem like child’s play.

I guess for now, Art Yap can only be judged on how he manages this year’s supply challenges. For so long as we have enough rice stocks in NFA bodegas that are distributed properly and Art Yap manages to implement measures to encourage more local production, he would have done his job this year.

As for the price, that is now a political decision, given the realities in the international market and the limits of our government’s fiscal health.

Crippling shortage
Philippine Daily Inquirer
http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/editorial/view/20080416-130626/Crippling-shortage

It’s really a no-brainer. In the extreme situation where the choice is between food and fuel, there is no arguing what would take precedence. Things are not supposed to come down to this. But with a food crisis now facing the nation (and the world), the question has been put on the table.

“Producing biofuels today is a crime against humanity,” Jean Ziegler, UN Special Rapporteur for the Right to Food, was quoted as saying on German radio. A few days earlier here at home, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said one of the reasons for the food crisis was the booming demand for biofuels worldwide. And last Monday, Rep. Roilo Golez was reported on radio calling for a moratorium on Biofuels Act of 2006, precisely because of the crisis. Making things a little more complicated, there are suggestions that the law is being used by some big landowners to evade coverage of the Philippine agrarian reform program, which is expected to boost the country’s food productivity, aside from making tenant-farmers owners of the land they till.

The cover story of Time magazine last April 7, titled “The Clean Energy Scam” and written by Michael Grunwald, explained how the biofuel boom has sent food prices soaring, triggering a food crisis in many countries of the world.

Extracted from sugar, corn, soybeans and a lot of other food crops, biofuels captured the fancy of the increasingly climate-conscious but oil-dependent world as a clean, renewable, alternative energy that could be sourced locally by most, if not all, countries. Brazil, which turned to bioethanol production during the oil crisis in the 1970s, had become a showcase of biofuels’ success and profitability by the late 1990s. Highly developed countries like the United States and Germany, determined to reduce their dependence on imported oil, followed suit.

The growing demand for bioethanol consequently raised the buying prices for feedstock, which in turn made it more attractive to farmers to sell their products to refineries rather than to family tables. This made food less affordable to more people.

Grunwald pointed out that the biofuel boom has also led to the destruction of forests and may be doing more harm than good to the environment.

Indeed, considering the food crisis that is looming in the horizon, dumping the country’s biofuel program might seem to be the wiser course. But with the price of imported fuel now hovering above $100 per barrel, we don’t have much of a choice: We have to address the oil crisis as well. Luckily, we don’t seem to have reached that point where we have to make a choice between food and fuel.

For one thing, the Biofuel Act has yet to take off. Many of its policies and programs still have to be shaped and fleshed out. And in this effort, we can learn from the experience of Brazil and other countries that have some experience in ethanol production.

Forest destruction should be a no-no. And we should go slow on feedstock that could be harmful to the environment, as Grunwald suggested. In other words, the mad rush for profit should be moderated by the need to protect the environment.

Equally important, we should not lose sight of our requirements for food security. Let’s keep enough farmlands to meet our food needs. In fact, we complain of having too much land lying idle and unproductive. We certainly can use them to grow native plants that can provide both food and feedstock, like the malunggay. Maybe, we can focus on feedstock, like jatropha, that can grow on what Grunwald referred to as “degraded lands that can no longer support food crops or cattle.”

The landscape of possibilities for the Philippines’ biofuel program can be as wide as the imagination can see. It is limited for now only because we don’t take our vision of self-sufficiency in food and energy seriously.

We are not lacking in foresight. We saw the need to free the country from its overdependence on imported oil as far back as the Marcos years, perhaps, even earlier. The tightening of rice supply in the world market has been a national concern in the past 15 years at least. But what do you make of a government that can be so generous with billions of pesos for pork barrel, but allow 400,000 out of 1.2 million hectares of irrigated land to be neglected?

It is quite clear that the most crippling shortage is one of will to do what is necessary to use scarce resources to feed the hungry and produce clean energy.

Rice and political expediency
EYES SEE By MIRIAM CORONEL FERRER
ABS-CBN News
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryID=115378

Now political expediency has come full circle. For the survival of this and all succeeding administrations, they don’t need more summits and emergency powers. They need to act on two core social reform areas, agrarian reform and population control, now.

Addressing the rice crisis, no doubt, is a politically expedient matter. After the series of impeachment threats, aborted coups, corruption scandals, and international pressure against the extra-judicial killings, the last thing this administration needs is to be confronted with queues of hungry people turning into angry hordes.

Simply "managing" the crisis would not be enough. More efficient distribution of NFA rice, appealing to the public for calm, and streamlining public issuances are mere band-aid measures. Penalizing pilferers, hoarders and smugglers should belong to the regular order of things, but we see this long arm of the law being flexed only now.

This catastrophe did not descend on us in a sudden twist of fate. Its global dimensions include the increasingly fragile environment and the misguided quest for alternative sources of energy. Now we realize that turning corn into ethanol has been taking food away from the table. That clearing forests and agricultural lands to plant jetropa and the like have negative environmental and socio-economic consequences. Never mind the politicians and bureaucrats who are losing face for being the voice of this ill-advised advocacy. To them we advise: talk less and study more.

Domestically, the high price of rice is a disaster brought about by long-articulated problems and long- acknowledged solutions that have been waylaid under every administration, this one obviously no exception, by the political expediencies of the moment.

Now political expediency has come full circle. For the survival of this and all succeeding administrations, they don’t need more summits and emergency powers. They need to act on two core social reform areas, agrarian reform and population control, now.

Agrarian reform

We have lost more and more irrigated farm lands to unwarranted land conversions by influential landowners skirting the coverage of their lands from land distribution. How did they get away with this? Interestingly, most of the people appointed to the Eminent Persons Group that will advise the President on the crisis were former Agrarian Reform secretaries. To be honest to themselves and the nation, they should address this question first.

In countries like Japan, Korea and Taiwan, the cutting up of estates into small family farms decades ago provided the impetus for economic growth. The same can be said with China’s and Vietnam’s more recent experience, when they undertook the shift to "market socialism," disbanded several large agricultural collectives and redistributed lands to farming households in the 1980s. Peasants were spurred to higher productivity. With increased income, they became avid consumers of manufactured goods which, in turn, boosted the manufacturing sector and created over-all growth. Their peasants became their new middle class. Meanwhile, we started to import rice from Vietnam.

High productivity was achieved by giving farmers land security and infrastructure and credit support. Why this comprehensive approach was accomplished in other countries and not in ours requires serious understanding. We have all the technical know-how. The International Rice Research Institute is right here in our soil and how many of our universities offer courses in agriculture? We need to know why our farmers never managed to overcome their poverty and why, among those who were awarded land patents, many ended up selling their lands and indebted to old and new patrons. We can’t just blame the farmers, tough luck, and nature. There’s a serious governance and political problem in all these.

Population control

The problem of runaway population growth was succinctly captured in this week’s BBC report on the rice crisis. A 40-ish woman in a rice queue was asked why she was lining up. Her response: "I have 12 children."

How many kilos of rice each day would this mother need to adequately feed her 12 growing children? Even at the initial NFA price of P18.50, she would need at least twice the government-pegged minimum necessary daily income for a family of six. Recently that survival-income level for a family in Metro Manila has been computed at P858 -- an amount hard to get even for daily wage-earning couples.

Population control has no shortage of critics from the left and the right. The latter argues on the basis of Catholic beliefs that conceive of artificial birth control methods as sin. The influential Catholic Church in the Philippines has been the gatekeeper to this orthodoxy. And because of political expediency, insecure presidents like GMA and devout Catholics like Cory have considered it expedient to have no government population control program.

Meanwhile, there are those from the left who dismiss the problem of high population growth by pointing to maldistribution rather than the lack of resources as the cause of poverty. This "left" critique hinged on social and global inequities remains valid. But we are now better informed by the environmental discourse on how humans are eating up the forest. Meanwhile, the feminist preference for the language of "reproductive rights" has taken the issue on another theoretical and empirical plane focused on responsible parenthood and women’s right to a better quality of life.

The social and economic impact of some 1.8 million more Filipinos every year are mind-boggling. In 40 years, we will have twice the current population. To nourish, clothe, and educate every young Filipino would require exponential growths in agricultural productivity, schools, jobs and government revenues. Even under a more legitimate government, these will not happen without the core social fundamentals in place.

Bicol palay stocks still low despite onset of harvest
By: Sonny Sales
PILI, Camarines Sur – A shortfall in stock is still expected in the province even with the onset of palay harvest season due to many factors.

One is the heavy rains that submerged about 17,460 hectares of harvestable palay and “husky” palay fruits estimated at 41,400 hectares.

Nora Follosco, NFA economist, said affected ricelands were in the towns of Nabua 2,600 hectares, Libmanan 1,539 hectares, Milaor 1,214, and undetermined hectares in Baao, Canaman and Bula towns.

The Department of Agriculture-Bicol said about 22,400 hectares of riceland with an expected yield of 80,000 cavans were totally damaged.

Follosco said the increase in palay price to P18 from P17.50 per kilo could not boost palay stocks in commercial warehouses.

An inventory last week in the province showed that 10 NFA commercial warehouses in Pili and Tigaon towns only have 64,379 bags of palay: 40,000 bags at the Partido Rice Mill, Cosay & Co. 12,500 bags, Albay Trading and Rice Mill 7,330 bags, and Partido Development Int. Corp., 4,000 bags.

DA regional spokesman Emily Bordado said high-yielding palay varieties recommended by the NFA were rejected by many farmers because of incidental high production cost. She said some farmers still prefer traditional varieties which yield only 60 to 70 cavans per hectare.

Reports also said big quantities of certified palay seeds landed in the hands of some politicians who distribute them to favored farmers. But instead of planting them, some farmers milled them for their consumption. www.journal.com.ph

Saturday, April 19, 2008
Tramlines for rice terraces, why not? (http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/bag/2008/04/19/feat/tramlines.for.rice.terraces.why.not..html)

CAN old and new ideas and practices work well together to promote rural development and good income for rice farmers in the Cordillera highlands?

The response of "Ama" Maximo Suyon, chairman of Barangay Aguid in Sagada, reveals a progressive stand that is at the same an appeal for help: "The old ways become even more reliable when these are improved with better ideas and practices," he said.

His insight was elicited during the consultations undertaken by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (Ifad)-Board and Executive Staff during their visit to Aguid last April 7, 2008.

The consultation was held following a walkthrough of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) communal irrigation project (CIP) in Aguid community by the Ifad top brass. The rehabilitation and concreting of this CIP's 11-kilometer (km) canal, from the water source to the rice fields, was supported by the Asian Development Bank and Ifad-funded Cordillera Highland Agricultural Resources Management (Charm) project (Phase I).

During the walkthrough, the members of the Ifad Board and Executive Staff were informed that the CIP was turned over to the community by NIA. The community operates and maintains this facility following an indigenous system called "lampisa."

"Lampisa," according to Ama Suyon, is a traditional practice followed by the community to keep the irrigation canal operational at its optimum level. When the whole stretch of this canal was not yet cemented, community members and users were equally divided and assigned to clean and maintain their portion of this agricultural infrastructure and thus ensure that adequate volumes of water keeps flowing to irrigate the rice terraces. When minor repairs and expenses are required, the community members and users assigned to the area will shoulder it. Major expenses and work necessary to keep the whole CIS operational are brought to the community through the elders and barangay official who will mobilize support in terms of finances, food and labor.

The practice of "lampisa" has evolved and survived through several generations in Aguid, Sagada where community members are closely knit as relatives and members of the clan. Cementing the irrigation canal has reduced labor required for its maintenance, increased water flow and utilization. However, "lampisa" will still be followed like when community members will be asked to repair or provide funds for repair and maintenance work.

Impressed by how the community manages their CIS, Mr. Kevin Cleaver during the dialogue with community elders, asked what projects would they want the new Charm project to undertake in their village? By way of an answer, he asked: "How about tramlines?" Mr. Cleaver asked, "Why tramlines? Can you possibly operate this new infrastructure?"

Ama Suyon did not respond and the obvious answer is no. In the consultation undertaken for the women folk, an old woman, in response to the same query, asked for the same intervention. "We need tramlines," she said. Unlike the forum for the elders, the woman was not pressed for further explanation on her request. The women seem to understand their needs more than the men folks.

On the way back to Mount Data, Amalia Garcia-Tharn, executive director to Ifad, Deputy Director, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Embassy of Sweden and Anna Benassi, Evaluation Assistant, Office of Evaluation-Ifad, exchanged notes on their observations during the consultations and they came to the point where the request for tramlines were aired by two old folks.

The rice terraces are constructed on the mountainsides and require good legs and strong bodies to farm. During cultivation, farmers carry "lumeng" or composted animal waste and other organic waste to the fields. Farmers also carry their loads of palay (unhusked rice) along steep winding pathways along the rice terraces during harvest. Most of the works, involving carrying of loads, were assigned to the young during my time. It is not always the case today. The young do not appreciate farm work in the rice terraces. They would rather work as miners or laborers in the vegetable farms in Benguet or live in the cities," said Ama Suyon.

The loggers introduced tramlines to the highlands to transport logs between mountains. With some innovations and using the front drive of a vehicle, farmers used tramlines to haul vegetables from the valley floor, or across mountains.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) regional office and the Bureau of Postharvest Research and Extension (BPRE) have established 11 agricultural tramline projects in Benguet and Mountain Province as alternative transport system for vegetables. Another 10 tramline projects are being set up in both provinces also for vegetable production.

The technology reduces drudgery in hauling and provides transport in highland production areas characterized by extreme difficult conditions because of ravines, rivers and dense vegetation. It is a hauling facility using cables and pulleys to transport agricultural products and inputs from isolated farms to the nearest road.

The cost of establishing a tramline project ranges from P800,000 to P1 million depending on the distance of the production site to the road. The cost covers the procurement of a diesel engine, cables, pulleys, and construction materials for the set-up of the machine shed and loading platform.

Most of the farmer users of tramlines cited that this technology reduces post harvest losses; time spent in hauling agricultural products from days to minutes; and ensures their safety from accident during hauling on steep pathways especially during the rainy days.

In the past, Ama Suyon said family and community life revolved around the rice farming cycle. The care of the whole biodiversity of life in the community to include humans, plants, livestock and the wilds that as close to their yards are attended to by the community in tandem with the preparation of the fields, planting it with rice and caring and harvesting this crop. The rice fields do not only produce rice but also yield fishes, crabs, frogs, shells and water ferns for food. "Many of these things are now missing from the field including the caring hands that some of the members of the clan-community used to provide," he said. Will the provision of tramlines substitute for the absence of able hands or will it encourage them to come back to work the rice fields?

"Tramlines can form part of the answer. In Kalinga, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) has provided funds for the rice farmers to procure post harvest equipment. This is in answer to their desire to process more rice for export to the USA. Vicky Garcia, Director of Rice, Incorporated which assists the farmers in Kalinga and Ifugao in this export venture said that many farmers have returned to their rice fields after they were informed that they can participate and earn a respectable income from it.

Governor Maximo Dalog, in a speech during the launching of the Cordillera Heirloom Rice Program (CHRP) in Bontoc last month, appealed for more investments to improve the production, post-harvest and packaging of this native rice. That may clarify it a bit. Tramlines, good agricultural practices and a profitable market for farm products that makes highland farming more respectable promote rural development in the highlands.

DENR reviews SBMA power to issue ECCs

By Tonette Orejas
Central Luzon Desk
First Posted 23:49:00 04/18/2008

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Philippines--A Department of Environment and Natural Resources team has called for a "thorough review" of the powers given to the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority to issue environmental compliance certificates (ECCs) to investors at the Subic Bay Freeport.

The call came following the controversy arising from the construction by a South Korean shipbuilding company of two high-rise residential condominiums in a forested area at the free port.

It was the SBMA, not the DENR, that issued an ECC to Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Phil. Inc. for its 22-story and 12-story apartment buildings at a Subic forest reserve.

The SBMA's own land-use plan, prepared with the help of the World Bank during the stint of former SBMA chairman and administrator Felicito Payumo, banned any form of development on Ilanin Forest East, the site of the two Hanjin apartment buildings, a check by the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net) showed.

Full story here (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/regions/view/20080418-131309/DENR-reviews-SBMA-power-to-issue-ECCs)

Rice crisis traced to environmental degradation
ABS-CBN
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=115545

The current rice crisis in the country shows the extent of "unabated exploitation of the country’s natural resources," an environmental group said Saturday.

Clemente Bautista, national coordinator of Kalikasan People’s Network, said conversion of agricultural lands and lack of genuine agrarian reform led the country to the current problem in rice supply.

"The current rice crisis affecting the country is also reflective of the fast diminishing number of agricultural lands due to degradation and land conversion. The government continues to resort to massive importation as a solution to the food crisis instead of embarking on genuine agrarian reform", Bautista said.

Bautista added the Arroyo administration has "been directly complicit" in passing laws and policies that led to the exploitation of the country’s natural resources in favor of foreign interests.

"Instead of protecting and defending our patrimony, this administration is engaging in a grand clearance sale of Philippine forests, lands, mineral ores, agricultural produce, biodiversity, water, and marine wealth to the highest foreign bidder," he said.

He also pointed out that, of more than a hundred victims of extrajudicial killings since 2001, 23 cases were related to environmental issues, particularly mining.

"The government neglects its responsibilities to major ecosystems through massive deforestation, degradation of agricultural lands, depletion of freshwater resources, diminishing marine and coastal resources, looming waste and pollution crisis, lack of mitigation and adaptation efforts to address the global warming," he said.

Pork funds as farm productivity booster
ONE way to help farmers boost food production is by providing them with low interest loans or financial assistance coming from the much maligned congressional pork barrel.

This is the no-nonsense remedy thought up by House Speaker Prospero Nograles as he urged the government to re-energize the rural bank and tap them as conduit to farmers in the dispersal of agricultural funds to help modernize rice farming and improve food production.

At present, the 23 senators are entitled to P200 million pork barrel funds each while the 200 plus congressmen are entitled to P70 million each for a combined total of nearly P10 billion.

Nograles noted that rural banks and not the “big banks” have direct access to farmers in providing low interest loans.

“Most of our farmers especially those who lack proper education normally hesitate to go to the big banks so it’s the job of the rural banks to reach out to them.

“This is better than them falling victims to loan sharks and 5-6 usurers,” the Speaker said.

At present, HB 3817 filed by Laguna Rep. Justin Chipeco, An Waray Party-list Bem Noel and Anak Mindanao Rep. Mujiv Hataman is pending in Congress.

The proposal seeks to stop the slow demise of most of the country’s rural banks.

Nograles said that he will urge his colleagues in the Lower House to prioritize this bill and pass it immediately to help solve the looming rice and food crisis and at the same time help the rural banks become proactive farm partners in the countryside.

“We want to re-energize the marginal operations of rural banks because they are in the best position to reach out to the farmers in their areas of operation and could identify the real needs of the farmers,” Nograles said.

He said that apart from a two-year moratorium on Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas-mandated capital adequacy ratio, one possible move to place the rural banks in the forefront of the government’s food security program is for congressmen and senators to apportion part of their entitlements as seed capital for the rural banks. www.journal.com.ph

Apply no conversion rule on Arroyo farms
04/20/2008
Daily Tribune
http://www.tribune.net.ph/headlines/20080420hed1.html

The Arroyo clan of First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo was accused of being among the biggest violators of the government’s land distribution program and Negros Occidental farmers are now challenging President Arroyo to apply the ban on the conversion of prime agricultural lands on the Arroyo haciendas.

Farmers of the Arroyo haciendas arrived at the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) office the other day to petition the government to stop the Arroyos from converting the 157-hectare Hacienda Bacan in Barangay Guintubhan in Isabela, Negros Occidental.

The Arroyos formed a company, Rivulet Agro Industrial Corp., to assume ownership of Hacienda Bacan. Rivulet Agro subsequently applied for the conversion of the hacienda into an agro-industrial estate.

Negros Occidental Rep. Ignacio “Iggy” Arroyo, the President’s brother-in-law, is spearheading the land conversion of Hacienda Bacan. Iggy Arroyo is one of the officers of Rivulet Agro.

Hacienda Bacan, which is owned by the First Gentleman, was placed under CARP coverage in 1996 through compulsory acquisition.

In 2001, following Mrs. Arroyo’s announcement that she would distribute the Arroyo lands, Iggy Arroyo applied for CARP coverage under voluntary offer to sell (VOS) on the hacienda.

State-owned Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank), however, refused to process the hacienda’s claim under the CARP scheme saying Iggy had no authority to apply for a VOS on the property since Mike Arroyo was the actual landowner.

DAR had said it asked the First Gentleman to issue a letter of intent for the VOS, but to date no such letter had been issued.

The DAR last Thursday, on order of Mrs. Arroyo, imposed an indefinite ban on the “the unabated conversion of prime agricultural lands for real estate development.”

Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman said Mrs. Arroyo had ordered a review of the guidelines governing farmland conversion.

Jose Rodito Angeles, president of the peasant group Task Force Mapalad which is picketing the DAR over the Arroyo estates, said the farmers are now challenging Mrs. Arroyo to apply the recent policy on the Arroyo farmlands and stop its conversion process.

“Unless President Arroyo was issuing a statement meant only for public consumption, she should ask her brother-in-law to stop conversion of the hacienda and have it distributed to the 67 farmer-petitioners who had been selected and validated as legitimate beneficiaries,” Angeles said.

The farmers said that aside from Hacienda Bacan, the Arroyos also own vast tract of land in two other haciendas that the clan is preventing from being covered by CARP.

Angeles said Mrs. Arroyo should intervene in the distribution of the 197-hectare Hacienda Grande in Barangay Robles, La Castellana and the 60-hectare Hacienda Paraiso in La Carlota City.

Angeles said the Arroyos had subdivided Hacienda Grande into 42 titles in the name of 27 corporations, seven individuals, a foundation, and a homeowners’ association.

A notice of coverage has been issued on Hacienda Paraiso but the Arroyos had filed a protest against it, and the case had long been pending at the DAR, Angeles said.

“The plan to put up an ethanol plant in Hacienda Bacan has not been scrapped (despite Mrs. Arroyo’s no conversion order),” Angeles said.

He said the conversion directly contradicts the moratorium in land conversion because of the rice crisis and the spiraling prices of food commodities.

According to a study conducted by the Philippine Rice Research Institute, land conversion from 2003 to 2007 caused the country to lose 34,200 tons of rice that would have been produced by the converted farmlands. Over the five years, 9,000 hectares of farmlands on the average were converted annually.

The study said the trend was to turn the farmlands into factories, housing subdivisions, or shopping malls.

Angeles, who is among the potential land beneficiary in Hacienda Grande, said farmers will not give up on their petition for distribution of Arroyo lands as promised by Mrs. Arroyo herself.

“We will go on hunger strike again if we have to, but I hope we won’t have to do it this time if the President will make good her promise,” he said.

Task Force Mapalad earlier accused Iggy Arroyo of leading a drive among Negros legislators to stop the extension of the CARP, the law for which expires this year.

“It is common knowledge in Negros Occidental that Iggy was a prominent figure in the formation of the group called Concerned Landowners of Negros precisely to prevent CARP’s extension,” Angeles said.

The landowners’ group is lobbying for a review of CARP before any move is entertained to extend it.

“Iggy has at least one big reason to oppose CARP. He plans to build an ethanol plant in Hacienda Bacan, owned by the First Gentleman. The hacienda is subject to coverage by CARP, and he wants to prevent its distribution,” Angeles said.

Angeles said extending CARP beyond 2008 would benefit 6 million Negrenses while ending CARP would only benefit a few individuals, including Iggy and another Negros Occidental solon, Rep. Jeffrey Ferrer.

Negros Occidental has the highest land acquisition and distribution (LAD) backlog, accounting for 180,00 hectares of private agricultural land, Angeles said.

Angeles said DAR had admitted that the province has the highest LAD backlog because of resistance and political maneuvers by big landowners who are against CARP.

“The president said she wanted the remaining years of her presidency to become the legacy phase. Distribution of Hacienda Bacan could be part of that legacy,” TFM-Negros spokesperson Edna Sobrecaray.

from Mindanao forum:

Mindanao farmers can learn a lesson from Oton
By CHERYLL D. FIEL | Davao Today (http://davaotoday.com/2008/04/21/mindanao-farmers-can-learn-a-lesson-from-oton/2/)

http://davaotoday.com/main/uploads/2008/04/21/1.jpg
Nepthalie Betito explains the making of a catchment for rainwater
they use to water their vegetable garden in the dry summer.
(davaotoday.com photo by Cheryll D. Fiel)

Growing plants in the summer could be very difficult, especially for farmers in Mindanao more prone to the risks of temperature increase.

According to the Manila Observatory, a non-government organization which has been into scientific research on atmospheric science, it is Mindanao which poses high risk to temperature increase and El Niño.

Based on risk maps which the Manila Observatory issued recently and which can be viewed at www.observatory.ph/vm, 16 areas in Mindanao are in the top twenty areas considered high risk to temperature increase.

Davao del Sur, which ranked sixth in the risk map is considered to be more at risk from El Niño and Davao del Norte, 18th.

http://davaotoday.com/main/uploads/2008/04/21/2.jpg
A neighbour of the Betito’s hauls water from the cistern.
(davaotoday.com photo by Cheryll D. Fiel)

But who knows, the practice of farmers in Panay’s oldest municipality of Oton could help Mindanao farmers cope with the harsh weather?

In Sta. Monica, a village in the coastal town of Oton, where participants in the Iloilo city disaster risk reduction reporting training visited, irrigation canals are all drying up at this time of the year.

Only the family of Jose Gerry Mansili and some neighbours can make use of the land because of a pond, half-a-hectare wide, they built twenty years ago.

The pond serves as catchment for rainwater used to irrigate their rice field in summer. The family also grows hito and tilapia in the pond.

http://davaotoday.com/main/uploads/2008/04/21/3.jpg
Summer Harvest. The Betito’s still get to harvest vegetables
from their garden even at the height of summer, when almost every plant in
the area seems to have wilted and died. Thanks to the cisterns that collect
rainwater they use to irrigate their plants.
(davaotoday.com photo by Cheryll D. Fiel)

In barangay Abilay Sur, not far from Sta. Monica, Nepthalie Betito does not have land as big as the Mansili’s but Betito was able to find a way.

He dug out a pit four meters deep and three meters wide and with improvised bamboo to serve as pipelines, collected rain water from the rooftops to the pit. His wife helped him dig another two of this pit.

So, when the last of the rains came in February this year, Betito had already collected enough rainwater in these cisterns to irrigate his plants throughout the summer.

Betito once tried to find a better life out of Iloilo, working for various odd jobs, which included being a sales agent for books in Davao.

Finding no luck in these ventures, he returned to Iloilo five years ago. He found himself in possession of a land that totally dries up and cracks up in summer.

Water is also scarce. All the rest of Abilay Sur depends on artesian wells. The village is not even reached by the water pipe of the Iloilo Water District. The only source, aside from the artesian wells, is rain.

http://davaotoday.com/main/uploads/2008/04/21/5.jpg
He’s not on a drinking binge. Nepthalie Betito is just trying to show
how he makes his own organic fertilizer where beer is an ingredient.
(davaotoday.com photo by Cheryll D. Fiel)

So, Betito thought of a way for his family to survive.

With enough rainwater to irrigate his two-hectare land, Betito devoted it to vegetables and rice. With enough water to use, he is assured of a weekly income from the vegetable plants for the summer.

He has a plot planted with alogbate, another plot planted with eggplant, siling labuyo, ampalaya and okra. He and his wife only had to haul buckets of water from the cistern every other day to water these plants.

Now he earns at least a thousand per week from the vegetable garden. They also augment their food for consumption with the African Hito that they also grow in these cisterns

But on top of this, he also applied what he learned from the Department of Agriculture (DA) seminar on how to create organic fertilizers and pesticides.

http://davaotoday.com/main/uploads/2008/04/21/7.jpg
A dried up irrigation canal of Sta. Monica in Oton municipality, Iloilo.
(davaotoday.com photo by Cheryll D. Fiel)


From garlic, crude sugar, and beer, Betito can make his own organic pesticide. Several other concoctions he learned from the DA he is using now for his garden.

Among them is the “Oriental Herbal Nutrient,” a concoction of ginger and fermented juice of banana, stalks, bamboo shoots and crude sugar.

Benito even makes use of leftover rice! By mixing it with a kilogram of sugar, cooked rice, Betito comes up with a home-made fertilizer.

As a result of these practices, Betito’s place looks like an oasis in a desert-of-a-village in Oton.

Unfortunately, not too many farmers in Oton knew what the Betitos and the Mansili’s practice.

To popularize it, the local government will give awards to the practices of farmers like Betito and Mansili during the Katagman Festival in May. (Cheryll D. Fiel, davaotoday.com)

http://davaotoday.com/main/uploads/2008/04/21/8.jpg
Harsh land. This is how the ricefield looks like during summer in Sta. Monica, Oton, Iloilo.
(davaotoday.com photo by Cheryll D. Fiel)

http://davaotoday.com/main/uploads/2008/04/21/9.jpg
Only the family of Jose Gerry Mansili and some neighbours can make use of their land
because of this pond which the family built twenty years ago. The pond
serves as catchment for water used to irrigate their rice field in summer.
The family also grows hito and tilapia in the pond.
(davaotoday.com photo by Cheryll D. Fiel)

Biofuels under attack amid soaring prices of food items
Manila Times
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/apr/21/yehey/top_stories/20080421top2.html

PARIS: Hailed only months ago as a silver bullet in the fight against global warming, biofuels are now accused of snatching food out of the mouths of the poor.

Billions have been poured into developing sugar and grain-based ethanol and biodiesel to help wean rich economies from their addiction to carbon-belching fossil fuels, the overwhelming source of man-made global warming.

Heading the rush are the United States, Brazil and Canada, which are eagerly transforming corn, wheat, soybeans and sugar cane into cleaner-burning fuel, and the European Union (EU) is to launch its own ambitious program.

But as soaring prices for staples bring more of the planet’s most vulnerable people face-to-face with starvation, the image of biofuels has suddenly changed from climate savior to a horribly misguided experiment.

On Friday, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said biofuels “posed a real moral problem” and called for a moratorium on using food crops to power cars, trucks and buses.

The vital problem of global warming “has to be balanced with the fact that there are people who are going to starve to death,” said IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

“Producing biofuels is a crime against humanity,” the UN’s special rapporteur for the right to food, Jean Ziegler of Switzerland, said earlier.

Biofuels may still be in their infancy, but they are growing rapidly, with annual production leaping by double-digit percentages.

In a speech Wednesday that set down a target for reducing US carbon emissions, President George W. Bush pointed to legislation requiring US producers to supply at least 136 billion liters of renewable fuel by 2020.

In 2007, 20 percent of grain—81 million tons—produced in the United States was used to make ethanol, according to the US think tank Earth Policy Institute, which predicts that the percentage will jump to nearly a quarter this year.

“We are looking at a five-fold increase in renewable fuel,” Bush’s top climate change advisor, Jim Connaughton, said in Paris on Thursday at a meeting of the world’s major greenhouse-gas polluters.

But more than half of that legislatively mandated production will come from “second-generation” biofuels made from non-food sources such as switchgrass and wood byproducts, he said.

The EU’s and the Brazilian delegates in Paris contested the link between biofuels and the world food crisis.

“This is highly exaggerated,” Sergio Serra, Brazil’s ambassador for climate change, told Agence France-Presse.

“There is no real relation of cause and effect between the expansion of the production of biofuels and the raising of food prices. At least it is not happening in Brazil.”

EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said experts will report back by the end of May on how to guarantee that Europe’s planned biofuel boost does not impinge on the environment or the poor.

“There are a lot of concerns about social impacts, rising food prices and environment issues, and for all those reasons we want to insist on sustainability criteria in our legislation,” he said.

Defenders of biofuels said food shortfalls have multiple causes, including a growing appetite for meat among the burgeoning middle class in China and India.

On average, it takes more than four kilos of grain to produce one kilo of pork, and two kilos of grain to yield a kilo of beef.

Climate change may well be a contributing factor.

Some scientists fear rising temperatures and shifting rainfall patterns may be worsening water scarcity in key agriculture areas such as Australia’s wheat belt, and rice-growing deltas may be hit by saline intrusion from rising seas.

In addition, the surging cost of oil has had an indirect impact on many poor people, adding to the pinch caused by rising food prices.

RP rice production up by 12% in 2009 - DA
BY PATRICIA DE LEON, GMANews.TV
04/21/2008 | 06:50 PM

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Agriculture expects the country to produce 19.53 million metric tons of palay in 2009, a 12.7 percent increase from the projected
17.32 million MT harvest of the grain this year.

The announcement came as local consumers struggle with surging prices of imported varieties of the grain.

It also came as the country’s rice program agency angles for a four-fold increase in its operating budget in 2009.

The Ginintuang Masaganang Ani Rice Program is operating on a P2.631 billion budget this year, while it is gunning for P10 billion in funds for 2010.

The country was expected to have produced 16.24 million MT of the grain in 2007, data from GMA Rice Program director Frisco Malabanan showed.

The data was presented during a roundtable on food security hosted by the University of the Philippine-Los Banos on Monday.

In 2007, 90 percent of the rice consumed in the Philippines was produced locally, while the remaining 10 percent was sourced from abroad. This made the country the top importer of the grain for that year.

Surging prices of the grain in the world market is putting pressure on the government to hasten its goal of achieving rice self sufficiency.

"We have to go for self-sufficiency. In the past it was cheaper to import, but that is not realistic anymore considering the world supply for rice is tight," Malabanan said.

The Philippines is working toward 92.3 percent rice self-sufficiency by 2008, before it moves to 100 percent sufficiency by 2010.

World rice prices are surging in tandem with other commodities like wheat, corn, soya, and hard commodities like steel and oil. - Patricia de Leon, GMANews.TV (http://www.gmanews.tv/story/90683/RP-rice-production-up-by-12-in-2009---DA)

FEATURE-Marijuana loses ground to silkworms in the Philippines
Mon Apr 21, 2008 8:03pm EDT

By Manny Mogato

KAPANGAN, Philippines, April 22 (Reuters) - Hundreds of white mulberry trees have started to cover mountain slopes deep in the northern Philippines' Cordillera region, changing not just the landscape but also making over the image of a poor farming town.

Up until a few years ago, the upland villages of Kapangan, a town of 18,000 people in Benguet province, were known as one of the country's largest cultivation areas for marijuana.

"We've started something to erase that tag," Roberto Canuto, Kapangan's mayor told Reuters. "We're determined to be known as something else, perhaps the silk capital of the country."

Canuto said some farmers started growing mulberry trees, the main food of silk-producing worms from China and Japan, after sericulture was introduced in nine of Kapangan's 15 villages in late 2004.

"We're expanding the mulberry plantation to accommodate more farmers willing to go into silkworm operations," he said.

Many farmers became interested in the silk industry after trials produced about 25 kilos of raw silk that sold for $50 per kilogram early this year.

"This could be the perfect alternative to marijuana ... This could give us extra cash without taking any risks," said Wilbur Teofilo, a leader of a farmers' cooperative in Kapangan that is upgrading 11 "rearing houses" and building nine more to raise raw silk production to 250 kilos every two months this year.

Fe Donato, an official from the Fibre Industry Development Authority, said the silkworm project could produce as much as 2,000 kilos of raw silk every year once operations expand in two years time. This could bring in an extra 4 million pesos ($95,690) for the farmers.

Most farmers will not admit to having cultivated marijuana before getting into sericulture. But growing the illegal plant was cheap and profitable and relatively easy work.

In its 2008 International Narcotics Control Strategy report, the United States' State Department said marijuana had regained popularity in the Philippines and the drug was also being exported to Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and Malaysia.

The report, citing data from the Philippines' Dangerous Drug Board (DDB), had identified at least 60 cultivation sites in the country's northern mountain regions and on the troubled southern islands of Mindanao, Jolo, Basilan and Tawi-tawi.

In an earlier interview with Reuters, DDB chairman Anselmo Avenido said about 20 new cultivation sites had been discovered since the start of the year even though security forces uprooted 2.5 million plants in 2007.

Avenido said the presence of Maoist-led guerrillas and Muslim militants around most of the cultivation sites had complicated the government's efforts to eradicate marijuana sites.

Intelligence reports said about 17 percent of proceeds from production bases were used to fund activities of communist New People's Army (NPA) rebels, including buying weapons and training and feeding more than 5,000 cadres.

Read full story here (http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSMAN185725)

Rice self-sufficiency a necessary goal--civil society
By Amy R. Remo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20080421-131836/Rice-self-sufficiency-a-necessary-goal--civil-society

MANILA, Philippines -- A coalition of farmers and non-government organizations (NGOs) challenged the government and international agencies on Monday to come up with low-priced rice that the poor can afford.

Rice Watch and Action Network (R1) issued the statement as experts from the World Bank (WB), International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) asserted that the Philippines could trust the global market to feed its people instead of pursuing self-sufficiency.

"While the government's policy pronouncements carry the rhetoric of achieving 100-percent rice self-sufficiency, the DBM declared the country has a comparative disadvantage in rice growing, and rice self-sufficiency is both costly and illusory," said R1 lead convenor Jessica Reyes-Cantos.

R1 said the government's reliance on imported rice to provide people with the staple at P18.25 a kilo would drain the country's resources but would not be able to bring down prices of commercial rice.

"Officials from the budget department are eating their own words when they declared the costly disadvantage of improving local rice production to feed the people," Cantos said.

She added that the government was forced to import more than two million metric tons even at skyrocketing prices because of the political implications of the shortage of low-priced rice.

The WB and IRRI have asserted that the world rice market can be trusted, but IRRI is now singing a different tune, seeking to "improve agronomic practices, enhance the ability to effectively utilize rice varieties and promote rice breeding," Cantos said.

"The government chose to listen to these so-called experts and look where they have led us to -- the long lines for cheap NFA rice, starkly telling us the huge problem we have to face as global prices are not likely to stabilize and the critical lean months are drawing to a close," she said.

Global prices have grown by leaps and bounds hitting the $1,000 a ton mark, barely four months from the beginning of this year, when the price of rice was only at $430 a ton.

According to Cantos, the government chose to relax rather than fight hard for its rice self-sufficiency battle cry.

She said the WB, IRRI and even the Philippine Rice Research Institute prescribed against self-sufficiency due to the country's geographic conditions that supposedly made importing rice cheaper than investing in domestic production.

R1 further noted that less than 10 percent of the total rice produced globally was being traded on the world market.

It said only six country-producers were exporting some 73 to 85 percent of the globally traded rice, but as many as 35 countries, including the Philippines, were pitting against each other to get a portion of the cereal through importation.

P10B needed for 98% rice self-sufficiency--DA exec
By Amy R. Remo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20080421-131829/P10B-needed-for-98-rice-self-sufficiency--DA-exec

LOS BAÑOS, Laguna -- At least P10 billion is needed for palay production next year to ensure the country as much as 98-percent self-sufficiency in the staple, an agriculture official said.

At a food security forum here on Monday, Frisco Malabanan, director of the Department of Agriculture-Ginintuang Masaganang Ani (Golden Bountiful Harvest) Rice program, said they would seek Congress' approval for this budget, which would be almost four times the 2008 budget of P2.631 billion.

"There is a need to widen the rice program to increase local production, and this can be done by providing farmers enough resources and incentives to produce," Malabanan told reporters.

If granted, this budget may be used to increase palay production to a record-high of 19.53 million metric tons (MT), which translates roughly to some 12.69 million MT of rice.

The 2009 projection shows an increase of 12.9 percent from the 2008 production target of 17.3 million MT, which translates to about 92 percent self sufficiency in rice.

He said the country could attain 100-percent sufficiency if it had sufficient irrigation and post-harvest facilities, and farm-to-market roads.

But he noted that the DA already has programs for these other elements in its five-pillar growth agenda.

This comprehensive agenda focuses on higher spending for irrigation and rural infrastructure; post harvest facilities; research and development or R&D and extension work; rural credit facilitation; and for finding more local and foreign markets for Philippine products.

"We have to bat for self-sufficiency especially since we have the capacity to produce. Before, it was cheaper to import but now, global supply is tight while prices are high due to increased costs of farm inputs," Malabanan explained.

Emil Javier, former president of the National Academy of Science and Technology, echoed the same sentiment, saying the government is responsible for ensuring self-sufficiency in the staple cereal.

"We have to look at rice self-sufficiency as our target because in doing so, we also target agriculture modernization," Javier noted.

Meanwhile, Malabanan explained that the proposed P10-billion budget would be used mainly for seed procurement and distribution, genetic materials, location-specific interventions, small-water impounding projects and open pumps.

"Hopefully, we can also cover seed requirements for the more than four million hectares of lands programmed to be planted to palay for full year 2009," he said.

For the dry season of 2009, Malabanan said the DA targeted 350,000 hectares to be planted to hybrid seeds and at least 1.58 million hectares to certified seeds.

During the wet season, the DA has programmed some 150,000 hectares to be planted to hybrid seeds and about 2.43 million hectares to certified seeds.

Hybrid seeds are expected to yield a conservative average of 150 cavans per hectare and certified seeds, 90 to 110 cavans.

According to Malabanan, he also expects prices of rice to go down soon as the country enters the peak summer harvest season.

Farmgate prices of wet palay in Nueva Ecija have been hovering at around P15 a kilo, lower than the P17-buying price of the National Food Authority, he said, adding that this price movement could be expected during this time of the year.

"The P17-buying price of the National Food Authority is a good profit incentive for farmers to either sustain or increase their production. Farmers should be making a profit," he said.

Already, farmers are asking the government not to cut the NFA buying price from P17 per kilo, given the increasing costs of fertilizers, oil and transport, as well as other farm production inputs.

Decreasing the NFA buying price, Malabanan explained, would be the call of the national government, but it would be difficult to put prices back to previous levels.

NFA Deputy Administrator Vic Jarina earlier said that the food agency's real buying price for palay was only P11 a kilo, while the P6 consisted of several incentives for the farmers.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Fisheries Code finally approved
By Grace L. Plata

AFTER almost a decade, the Davao City Council finally gave its approval of the Fisheries Code of Davao City during second reading of the measure on Tuesday.

Entitled as "An Ordinance Providing for the Sustainable Development, Conservation and Management of the Fisheries and Aquatic Resources", the Fisheries Code aims to elevate the condition of the fisherfolks, particularly small or municipal fishermen.

Arroyo Watch: Sun.Star blog on President Arroyo

With its approval on second reading, it means the Fisheries Code has been approved in principle since the third reading will no longer entertain arguments.

One of the highlights of the ordinance is the setting of a limit to the area where commercial fishermen are allowed to operate. Article V Section 15 states that small and medium commercial fishing vessels are allowed to operate within 10 to 15 kilometers from the shoreline, thus small fisherfolks get exclusive rights to utilize the area near the coastline.

The Fisheries Code also creates the Farm Development and Fishery Regulatory Services (FRMS) Division under the City Agriculturist's Office (CAO), which shall assist in the formulation and ensure the implementation of plans and programs in the management of fishery resources in the city.

It will also assist the City Legal Office in the investigation, filing and prosecution of cases for violation of fishery laws and ordinances.

Through the ordinance, all the fisherfolks operating within the city waters are required to register with the CAO and in turn they will be given a fishery license, which allows them to operate in the designated places depending on the size of the operation. Violations are subject to fines and revocation of license.

The establishment of a fish-trading center (bagsakan) in the city is also provided by the ordinance. The CAO with other local government agencies is tasked to conduct a study for the center, which is aimed to facilitate the direct marketing of fish catch to wholesale and retail buyers at competitive and reasonable rates.

Article 13 of the ordinance provides for the identification and establishment of fisherfolk settlement areas considering the existing land use and zoning plans, geohazard assessments, soil suitability for settlements, actual use, proximity and access to fishing grounds and basic services and other applicable standards and regulations.

"It is giving due consideration on the perils of small fisherfolks and coastal communities that comprise 35 percent of the total population of the city. It is ironic that the fisherfolks which are among the largest sectors of the community who contribute to food security are classified as most marginalized and among the poorest in society," said Environment Committee Chair Leonardo R. Avila III, proponent of the Fisheries Code earlier.

"The main consideration of the Fisheries Code is to protect and promote the rights of the small fisherfolks in the city as they are directly affected by the utilization of fisheries and aquatic resources," he added.

The Local Fisheries Code in general aims to promote proper management, conservation, protection and proper utilization of fisheries and aquatic resources within city waters as the means for encouraging the sustained social and economic development of the city. It also regulates the access to Davao City's marine resources in order to maintain ecological balance, enhance the quality of the coastal environment and ensure food security.

The code was first proposed in 1997 when Avila was the vice chair of the committee on marine and aquatic resources of the City Council. The chairman then was the late Councilor Cornelio Reta Jr. The proposed code, however, did not gain support from the city councilors at that time and was shelved many times over, until Avila had to take a rest because he already served his third term as city councilor. During that time, the proposed code also took a rest, but was refiled in 2002, a year after Avila returned to the council in 2001.

A small group of militants were protesting outside the council doors in Tuesday's session, as they were against a specific provision of the fisheries code, which requires the registration of small fishermen.

The registration, however, is deemed necessary to fully implement the code. Who the small fishermen are will be properly identified through the registration component.

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/dav/2008/04/23/news/fisheries.code.finally.approved.htm

Why RP, home to IRRI, is now the world's top rice importer
By Tina Arceo-Dumlao
04/25/2008
Philippine Daily Inquirer
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20080425-132556/Why-RP-home-to-IRRI-is-now-the-worlds-top-rice-importer

MANILA, Philippines—It is ironic that the Philippines, home to the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and some of the world's best agriculture schools, has become the world's top importer of rice.

The last time the Philippines produced enough of the staple to feed its people was 1994. Since then, the Philippines has been getting rice from other countries to cover for the shortfall and to tide the country over through the lean months of July, August and September.

Domestic palay – unmilled rice – production hit a record 16.24 million metric tons last year despite the midyear dry spell, but it was still not enough.

There are now 88 million Filipinos to feed. Rice and rice products account for 53.37 and 29 percent, respectively, of their energy, protein and iron requirements.

But because there was enough affordable supply in the world market to fill the Philippines' production gap of about 10 percent, the goal to again become self-sufficient in rice was relegated to the back burner.

And now, the Philippines, which consumes about 33,000 tons of rice a day, is literally paying a steep price for neglecting the rice sector.

During the last rice tender, the National Food Authority purchased 323,875 metric tons of rice at $1,136 a ton, sharply higher than the $708 a ton it paid in March and nearly three times the $430 a ton it paid in January.

Bigger cause for concern

The unprecedented surge in the price of rice in the world markets has been driven by the classic case of demand outstripping supply, thanks to a series of unfortunate events, including global population growth and the disruption of agriculture patterns due to climate change.

But the bigger cause for concern for the Philippines, which is scrambling to import as much as 2.2 million MT of rice this year, is the tightening supply of rice in the world market.

Pressed to stave off inflation, top rice exporters, including Thailand, Vietnam and India, have started to curb exports.

Vietnam, the world's third top exporter of rice, for instance, declared that it would cap exports this year at 4 million tons, from 4.5 million tons last year.

The cut in exports from India, the second top exporter last year, is even more dramatic with the volume expected to fall sharply to 250,000 this fiscal year from 5.5 million tons last year.

No choice but buy at any price

The clampdown on exports has led to the failure of the NFA to secure enough bids to cover tenders in December 2007 and January, March and April this year. Chances are high that the government will again fail to attract enough bids in May.

Given the ever tightening supply, the Philippines has no choice but to purchase the rice it needs at any price.

According to a 2006 study by the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture based in Los Baños, Laguna, rice accounts for 25 percent of the food expenses of the poorest 30 percent of the Filipino population.

"Rice prices, therefore, have a significant impact on the well-being of Filipinos, including the small rice producers, most of whom are net buyers of rice for household consumption," the paper said.

Catching up

The unabated increase in the price of rice to over P30 a kilo for commercial varieties and P18.25 for the rice imported by the NFA has thus suddenly made rice self-sufficiency and agriculture development the priorities of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

The Philippines certainly has a lot of catching up to do.

For a sector that accounts for close to 19 percent of the Gross Domestic Product and employs 35 percent of the labor force, agriculture has not received the attention and support that it richly deserves.

Data from the General Appropriations Act show that the Department of Agriculture only got an average of 2 percent of the annual budget over the past six years.

Price of agri neglect

The most that the department got to fulfill its mandate to make sure that Filipinos have enough to eat and that the sector continues to help drive economic growth was 2.4 percent of the budget in 2002, before dipping to 1.6 percent in 2005 and 2007.

This year is no different, with Congress allotting P24.7 billion for the agriculture sector, equivalent to a mere 2 percent of the total budget this year of P1.227 trillion.

Congress passed the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act to enhance the global competitiveness of the agriculture sector in 1997 but it was not backed by the budget that it needed.

Now the country is literally paying the consequence of neglect, and beleaguered Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap admits as much.

"Yes, we have neglected agriculture and it was only recently that we started to fund irrigation, seeds and post-harvest programs of the government," Yap told the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net).

Emergency package

The emergency package of measures to address the country's food crunch by raising harvests of palay, corn and other food crops is summarized in the ambitious P43.7-billion FIELDS program unveiled during the April 4 food summit by Ms Arroyo.

The program will focus on fertilizer, irrigation, education and training of farmers and fisherfolk, loans, dryers and other post-harvest facilities and seeds of the high-yielding, hybrid varieties.

Agriculture Undersecretary Bernie Fondevilla said the FIELDS program covers the following:

• P500 million for fertilizer support, with special focus on the use of organic fertilizers.

• P6 billion for irrigation, with the goal of rehabilitating all irrigation systems by 2010.

• P6 billion for farm-to-market roads and other rural infrastructure.

• P5 billion for education, extension and training of farmers in new technologies, research and development on how to increase yields and lower production costs.

• P15 billion in loans and credit for farmers, fisherfolk and other small rural borrowers.

• P2 billion for dryers and other post-harvest support like storage facilities.

• P9.2 billion for hybrid and certified seed production and subsidies until 2010.

2010 target

The target is to plant certified seeds in 600,000 hectares this year and hybrid seeds in 900,000 hectares over the next two years.

The hope is that by implementing these grand programs, the Philippines would be able, as early as 2010, to go back to the glory days when it had enough rice to feed its people.

High palay prices will cure rice crisis -- Gullas
“HIGH rice prices will eventually cure high rice prices,” Cebu Rep. Eduardo Gullas said.

Gullas said lofty rice prices are helping to create the conditions that would ultimately lead to increased local production and supply of the staple.

With grain prices hovering at record highs, the Cebu lawmaker said he sees more Filipino farmers turning to growing palay in the months ahead.

“Many Filipino farmers used to shun rice, preferring instead to cultivate other, more gainful crops. On account of elevated grain prices, these farmers will now be enlivened to produce rice,” Gullas said.

“The increased output will eventually create extra supplies. This will help ease rice prices as time goes by,” he said.

A looming shortage continues to push rice prices up. In March alone, rice prices soared 10.9 percent compared to a year ago, the National Statistics Office said in its latest inflation report.

But as of Friday, rice prices on the Chicago Board of Trade are actually up more than 70 percent compared to a year ago.

“The looming rice shortage is surmountable. We’ve had this before,” Gullas said, referring to the oil crunch and soaring grain prices of the 70s.

Gullas likened the “shock” of fast-climbing rice prices to the jolt of surging oil and metal prices, which have ushered in “great bursts of growth” in oil and mineral exploration, development and production.

“As oil and mineral prices continue to soar, more firms around the world have been spurred to produce more oil, gold, silver, copper and other precious and industrial metals,” he said.

Gullas said even mines and oil wells that were previously unproductive due to low, unprofitable prices are now being reopened, just like the Toledo City copper pits in Cebu.

With respect to rice, Gullas expressed confidence that households and even restaurants would, on their own, curb any wasteful consumption of the staple. “The unusually steep price of rice is enough incentive for everyone to consciously reduce any waste of the grain,” he said.

“The challenge now is for the government to promptly extend adequate support to farmers who are shifting to palay, by providing them ready access to new technologies in growing rice, including highly potent seeds,” Gullas said.

He noted that up to now, out of the 4.2 million hectares of land devoted to rice farming, only about 300,000 hectares are actually planted to hybrid varieties that have superior qualities such as greater grain yield and stronger resistance to diseases. www.journal.com.ph

Palay harvest seen to reach DA target of 7.3 million MT
By Marianne V. Go
Monday, April 28, 2008
http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Business&p=49&type=2&sec=27&aid=2008042713

The Bureau of Agricultural Statistics has estimated actual palay production for the dry season to amount to seven million metric tons, according to Agriculture Secretary Arthur C. Yap.

Following a meeting with rice millers and grains traders, Yap said that preliminary figures already indicate that some 6.85 million MT have already been harvested, putting the Agriculture Department well in sight in meeting its 7.3 million MT target production.

Even so, Yap said the DA is bent on further raising palay yields, particularly in the country’s top 10 palay-growing provinces which account for almost half of the national output.

To sustain and even boost the high yields in most provinces, Yap said the DA would expand its intervention programs under the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA) Rice Program, especially in the top palay-growing.

Nueva Ecija tops the list of provinces with the highest palay yield last year, followed by Isabela, Pangasinan, Iloilo, Cagayan, Leyte, Camarines Sur, Tarlac, North Cotabato and Maguindanao.

Nueva Ecija produced 1.356 million MT of rice in 2007; Isabela, 1.036 million MT; Pangasinan, 1.011 million MT; Iloilo, 823,376 MT; Cagayan, 702,561 MT; Leyte, 582,840 MT; Camarines Sur, 560,809 MT; Tarlac, 557,943 MT; North Cotabato, 449,202 MT; and Maguindanao, 433,766 MT.

The leading palay producers accounted for 46.2 percent of the total national rice output in 2007, according to Frisco Malabanan, the national coordinator of the GMA-Rice Program.

Palay production totaled 16.24 million MT in 2007 and is expected to reach another peak of 17.32 million MT this year, with 40 percent or 7.1 million MT already expected to be harvested this dry season.

Malabanan said the DA would carry out the following intervention measures this year under the GMA Rice Program.

• Expansion of areas planted with hybrid seeds and certified seeds, coupled with location-specific measures such as farm inputs like Bio-N, zinc sulfate and other soil ameliorants;

• Restoration of irrigation facilities;

• Provision of post-harvest drying facilities;

• Planting of certified seeds in 600,000 hectares of rain-fed lowlands and low-yielding irrigated areas, which will focus on the priority provinces covered by the President’s Accelerated Hunger Mitigation Program (AHMP);

• Third cropping season under the quick turnaround (QTA) program to cover 92,000-100,000 hectares of fully irrigated areas using hybrid and inbred certified seeds; and

• Planting of hybrids and inbred certified seeds in restored and newly third cropping season under the quick turnaround program to cover 100,000 hectares of fully irrigated areas using hybrid and inbred certified seeds.

Yap earlier bared plans to embark on a subsidy program to encourage farmers to plant hybrid seeds and use more fertilizers, particularly the organic types.

Hybrid seeds cost more but produce an average of six to seven MT per hectare as against the per-hectare average of 4.5 tons for certified seeds.

The use of more hybrid seeds and fertilizers was among the initial recommendations of the Eminent Persons Group, an advisory group comprising ex-DA secretaries and other farm experts that Yap created recently to help oversee the implementation of FIELDS.

FIELDS is the P43.7-billion program for massive crop production that President Arroyo laid out at the National Food Summit last April 4. It stands for Fertilizers, Irrigation, Extension and Education, Loans, Dryers and Seeds.

Yap said a food production masterplan is being drawn up by the DA with experts from the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) and the University of the Philippines in Los Baños (UPLB) along with the Eminent Persons Group.

Hazy '09 for palay farmers: P17/kilo farm gate price until Dec only
GMA News
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/92237/Hazy-09-for-palay-farmers-P17/kilo-farm-gate-price-until-Dec-only

MANILA, Philippines- Local rice farmers have uncertain times ahead of them after the Department of Agriculture announced on Tuesday that the new farm gate price of P17 per kilo of the grain, which was instituted in March to support palay farmers, will last only until December.

In a statement, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said the National Food Authority "will maintain this support price for the rest of the year in keeping with the Arroyo government’s goal of not only boosting farm productivity but of making farming much more profitable as well."

However, farm gate prices for palay beyond December have yet to be determined, NFA spokesman Tom Escares told GMANews.TV.

"We still don't know. Only the President can tell. The final authority rests on the President," Escares said.

Previous to March, the farm gate price for palay was P12 per kilo. The order to raise farm gate prices came from President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to help farmers as the country copes with a global food security crisis.

While buying palay at P17 a kilo, the NFA is selling its cheapest rice at P18.25 a kilo to depressed areas. Its role to subsidize the cost of rice sold to the country's poorest is the main reason why Finance officials claim that for this year, the NFA stands to lose as much as P43 billion.

In 2007 NFA incurred almost P17 billion in losses and P80 billion in liabilities.

Earlier former NFA chief Romeo David urged the government to review its policy to buy palay at P17 a kilo, also noting that the government will have a tough time in explaining to the farmers that it will only be temporarily buying palay at P17 a kilo.

Fuel before food? Global biofuel debate rages
PhilStar
http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Headlines&p=49&type=2&sec=24&aid=20080430101

WASHINGTON – Some top international food scientists recommended Tuesday a halt in the use of food-based biofuels, such as ethanol, because they say it would cut corn prices by 20 percent during a world food crisis.

Even as the scientists suggested a moratorium, President George W. Bush urged the opposite. He declared the United States should increase ethanol use because of national energy security and high gasoline prices.

The conflicting messages Tuesday highlighted the debate over food and fuel needs.

The three senior scientists with an international research consortium pushing a biofuel moratorium said during a teleconference that nations need to rethink programs that divert foods such as corn and soybeans to fuel, given the expanding worldwide food crisis. The group, CGIAR, is a global network that uses science to fight hunger. It is funded by dozens of countries and private foundations.

If leading nations stopped biofuel use this year, it would lead to a price decline in corn by about 20 percent and wheat by about 10 percent from 2009-10, said Joachim von Braun. He heads the International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington, the policy arm of CGIAR. The United States is the biggest biofuel producer.

Von Braun and the other scientists said work should be stepped up on the use of nongrain crops, such as switchgrass, for biofuel.

Another scientist, not associated with the group, agreed with their call for a halt on the use of grain for fuel.

“We need to feed the stomach before we need to feed our cars,” said Rattan Lal, an Ohio State University soil sciences professor who in the past has been a critic of some of CGIAR’s priorities. “We have 1 billion people who are food insecure. We can’t afford the luxury of not taking care of them and taking care of gasoline.”

In an interview after the CGIAR teleconference, von Braun said the United States and other countries have to make a hard choice between fighting high fuel prices and fighting world hunger.

“If you place a high value of food security for poor people, then the conclusion is clear that we step on the brake awhile,” von Braun said. “If you place a high value on national energy security, other considerations come into play.”

Energy security is what Bush emphasized in his news conference at the White House. When asked about the conflict with world hunger and the rising cost of food at home, he said the high price of gasoline would spur more investment in ethanol as an alternative to gasoline.

“And the truth of the matter is, it’s in our national interest that our farmers grow energy, as opposed to us purchasing energy from parts of the world that are unstable or may not like us,” Bush said.

Still, Bush said the international food crisis “is of concern to us” and said the US government added another $200 million (euro128.4 million) in food aid this month.

A World Bank study has estimated that corn prices “rose by over 60 percent from 2005-07, largely because of the US ethanol program” combined with market forces.

Other nations, such as South Africa, have stopped or slowed the push to ethanol. But because the United States is the biggest producer, if it does nothing, other nations’ efforts will not amount to much, von Braun said.

Von Braun said many issues are causing the food crisis, especially market forces and speculation, but that biofuel use also ranks high among the causes.

Scientists say the diversion of corn and soybeans for fuel helps force prices higher and removes farmland from food production. Ethanol supporters say the corn used for fuels is the type only fed to livestock. However, other experts say it leads to higher livestock feed prices, thus higher food prices.

Dryland Research Institute to be put up to tap 3 M hectares for production
http://www.mb.com.ph/BSNS20080502123346.html
By MELODY M. AGUIBA

The government is creating a Philippine Dryland Research Institute (PDRI) to draw on untapped potential from the country’s three-million hectare drylands dominated by a poverty-stricken population.

An executive order creating the PDRI has been drafted by the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Agricultural Research (DA-BAR) to push for the development of drylands through effective means such as watershed management and production of drought-resistant crops.

The creation of PDRI can be a major poverty reduction program of government as drylands lack irrigation facilities and have been widely neglected in the past.

While investments and research and development (R&D) activities are traditionally poured into irrigated areas, it is timely that development efforts should be shifted to drylands that do not have economic activity-stirring infrastructures.

"Over the last three decades, the bulk of agricultural research, development, and extension investments, policy support and infrastructure have been devoted to irrigated lowlands. Yet dryland agriculture contributes about 40 percent of total food production," according to a DA-BAR primer.

Almost 20 million Filipinos inhabit these drylands, particularly upland and rainfed areas found mostly in Northern Luzon, Central Visayas, and Southern Mindanao "most of whom are very poor."
Because of the lack of investments in drylands, the renowned beneficial effects of Green Revolution have barely impacted the very poor.

The program will be a partnership between DA and the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) which has been known to develop crops suitable in drylands including peanut, chickpeas, sorghum, and pigeonpea.

ICRISAT has also introduced watershed management programs that have significantly raised yield in dry areas through provision of alternative pumped rainwater-groundwater irrigation.

ICRISAT Director General William D. Dar said that government should give priority to dryland farms because farmers from these areas are normally the poorest of the poor and expect more assistance from government than any other farmergroup.

Dryland farming is also confronted with many problems.
"Dryland farming is quite risky due mainly to recurrent droughts, pest infestation, poor and degraded soils, lack of physical infrastructure and weak social services," said BAR-DA.

In 2007, extreme drought hit the Ilocos REgiion, seriously damaging drops in
La union, Ilocos Sur, and Pangasinan and stripping farmers and their families of income opportunities.
RDE focus of PDRI will be food, feeds, fodder and forage, crop-livestock and poultry integration, fuel, and natural resource management (NRM).
Specific research areas may be on land degradation including baseline information to assess degradation and its impact on the environment and livelihood, rehabilitation of degraded lands, and solving low soil fertility (nutrient management).

Revive the Philippine GREEN Revolution and produce sufficient amount of our own staple and other basic food products. Support the Nationwide Irrigation Program to feed our Crops.

Start in your own homes, plant fruits and vegetables in your backyard (if you have one).

Mekong rice cartel a wake-up call for RP, says solon



http://www.mb.com.ph/MAIN20080502123363.html
Edmer F. Panesa

A move by five Mekong River nations to form a rice-exporting cartel amid rising costs of the staple grain should serve as a "wake-up call for the Philippines" to achieve rice self-sufficiency soonest, Palawan Rep. Abraham Mitra, chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture, said yesterday.
Mitra said that while the Philippines has no veto power over the plan hatched by Thailand to band with Vietnam, Myanmar (formerly Burma), Cambodia, and Laos in forming a rice-fixing cartel, it has "control over our agricultural policy, and that is to start to be insular-looking when it comes to rice and food security."
"We are entering an era in which the saying, ‘No man is an island’ can be applied no more to rice. At least on this staple, we must strive to grow all our needs," Mitra said.
The grouping of rice-exporting countries along the Mekong River would be similar to the oil cartel, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and would be called the Organization of Rice Exporting Countries (OREC).
Mitra said it is about time the government abandons the policy of using its land for more lucrative agricultural and non-agricultural purposes and use the income to buy cheap rice abroad.
"What’s the use of your money if no rice is available at any price overseas?" he asked.
"It’s like looking for water in the desert. You may be willing to exchange a bar of gold for a cup of water, but it’s totally worthless if there’s not a single drop around."
Mitra said the "initial rice price shocks" would lead the Philippines to eventually overcome "supply gaps" in the staple. "Necessity is the mother of rice production," he stressed.
He said one good thing that the OREC will probably bring is that it will force the country to grow more food.
"If we have the resources to grow rice – fertile land, water, and large tracts of underutilized land – then there is no reason we should allow ourselves to be a hostage of any cartel," Mitra said. "To its credit, the government is moving in that direction.
Funds are being released, agencies are mobilized. Once shunned as a poor cousin of high-value crops like asparagus, rice is again the star of the agriculture program," he said.
At the same time, however, Mitra allayed fears that the rice production drive would lead to "monocropping" and the loss of the "rich variety of Philippine agriculture."
"That is unfounded because if you bring irrigation to farms, it will serve other crops. It will promote diversity. If you build a solar dryer, it can also be used for corn, copra, black pepper. If you build a road, it will not be exclusive for rice trucks alone," he said.
"The catch-up program for rice, in which we are making up for years of neglect, will benefit agriculture across-the-board so that when rice becomes abundant, the facilities such as irrigation, roads are already there should some of our farmers shift to other crops," he said.
Intensify production, end dependence on imports – KMP
The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) and rice traders are agreed that the only way for the country to avoid the price-fixing operations of the newly organized Organization of Rice Exporting Countries (OREC) is to intensify local rice production and end dependence on imports.
Rafael Mariano, KMP chairman and president of the Anakpawis partylist, stressed that millions of farmers nationwide have long criticized the policy of the National Food Authority (NFA) of importing rice rather than local procurement, since only one percent of the country’s entire production is bought by the food agency.
Mariano stressed that for years, KMP had been calling on the NFA to raise the farmgate price of palay but it was only late last year that the price was raised to P11 per kilo, months before the rice crisis occurred.
He said that for the country to have sufficient buffer stock, the NFA must secure 25 percent of palay production nationwide "and thus put pressure on hoarders and other members of the local rice cartel" since the production cycle is only 120 days and they cannot hold on to their inventory for six months.
To obviate the crisis, Mariano said government could have set aside P20 billion for the purchase of local rice but President Arroyo opted to spend P60 billion for rice purchases in the world market, thus pushing prices higher and higher.
Herculano Co, president of the Philippine Confederation of Grains Associations (Philcongrains), said the country could have wriggled its way out of the problem by providing modern post-harvest facilities nationwide to reduce crop losses that range from 20 percent to 40 percent.
It was Co who also warned about the creation of a regional rice cartel, which was organized yesterday by Thailand with Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Vietnam, which are collectively served by the waters of the Mekong River. He warned about increases in the prices of fertilizers and other farm inputs, which happened last week, pushing further the production costs of rice farmers.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) places post-harvest losses at 8 percent, which the KMP says is a conservative estimate. Even as the NFA increased its buying price, Malacañang liberalized rice importation, prompting former Agriculture Secretary Leonardo Montemayor to assail the policy as mistaken.
De Castro warns vs "hoarding mentality," urges generosity
Vice President Noli de Castro has warned against a "hoarding mentality" in the face of serious threats to food security and sufficiency and called for a revolution of generosity to combat the spread of poverty.
De Castro made the remarks before leaders, corporate supporters, and beneficiaries of the Gawad Kalinga (GK) project during the latter’s Harvest Festival in Malaybalay City, Bukidnon. The event marked the anniversary of GK’s food production program implemented in tandem with its community-building activities.
"Hoarding is not only a violation of the laws of trade and commerce. It is also contrary to the nature of the human spirit which is supposed to be in the image and likeness of God. Hoarding is the direct opposite of generosity," De Castro said.
GK is a social outreach of the Couples for Christ. De Castro noted that the shelter and food production projects of GK have prospered because of this spirit of generosity. GK’s corporate and individual sponsors and supporters have refused to hoard their resources and opted to use these instead to benefit underprivileged Filipinos, De Castro said.
De Castro lauded GK’s multi-stakeholder approach, noting that the strategy taps and mobilizes the spirit of generosity among supporters and beneficiaries.
De Castro urged GK head Tony Meloto to continue focusing on the GK mission and ignore the criticism against the organization and its projects. "Our critics and detractors can do what they honestly think they must do," De Castro told Meloto. "We must take the blows for the sake of roofs over the heads and gardens with bountiful harvests for underprivileged Filipinos."

May paraan tayo upang dumoble ang production nating ng bigas:
*Hybrid rice yung palay na dalawa ang uhay
*Yung bigas na hindi nalulunod
*Taniman ng mga ito ang lahat ng mahigit sa 3000 ektaryang planong taniman ng bigas ng government

Tapos, hindi ba mahirap iyon para sa government?

‘Miracle rice’ bubuhayin


Nag-iwan ng impres*yong bubuhayin ng pamahalaan ang pamosong ‘miracle rice’ ng Pilipinas na pinayabong sa International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) sa Los Baños, Laguna.


Ito ay makaraang lumagda ang Pilipinas sa isang kasunduan sa mga rice experts upang patatagin ang produksyon ng palay sa bansa na magiging daan tungo sa self-sufficiency nito.


Ayon pa kay Agriculture Sec. Arthur Yap na siyang pumirma bilang kinatawan ng Pilipinas, layunin ng kasunduang ito na mataniman ng magandang uri ng palay ang buong apat na milyong ektaryang sakahan.
Ang IRRI na nakabase sa Los Baños ay nakilala sa pagdiskubre nito ng iba’t ibang uri ng palay, kabilang dito ang tinaguriang ‘miracle rice’. Isa ito sa umakit sa Thailand at Vietnam noong dekada ‘70 upang magpaturo ng pagtatanim ng ganitong uri ng bigas. Ang dalawang bansa ay kabilang ngayon sa pinakamalalaking rice exporters sa buong mundo at pangunahing pinagkukunan ng bigas ng Pilipinas na isa naman sa ‘biggest rice importer’.


Samantala, pinabulaanan naman ng National Food Authority (NFA) ang pahayag ni Palawan Rep. Abraham Mitra, chairman ng House committee on agriculture, na walang nakukuhang suporta mula sa ahensya ang mga magsasaka na siyang tunay na ugat ng dinaranas na krisis ng sambayanan sa bigas.


Binigyan-diin ni Tom Escarez, tagapagsalita ng ahensya, na sa simula’t simula ay prayoridad ng NFA na bilhin ang aning palay ng mga magsasaka sa bansa kaysa bumili ng butil sa ibang bansa ngunit sadya umanong hindi nakakasapat ang lokal na ani para sa pangangailangan ng bansa.
Idinagdag pa nito na hindi bagong polisiya ang pag-aangkat ng bigas kundi matagal na itong ginagawa kaya’t hindi makatarungang ito ang sisihin sa problema.


Samantala, hindi naman itinago ng pamahalaang Arroyo ang balak na pagbuo ng OPEC-styled na kartel ng malalaking rice exporting countries.
Ito’y sa pamamagitan ng pagtatatag ng Organization of Rice Exporting Countries (OREC) na magdidikta ng presyo ng bigas sa mundo. Magiging miyembro ng OREC ang mga bansang Thailand, Vietnam, Burma, Cambodia at Laos.


Ayon naman kay Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo, may dahilan upang maalarma ang Pilipinas sa pagbuo ng OREC dahil bilang rice importing country ay magiging ‘hostage’ tayo ng mga bansang ito sa ating pinakaimportanteng pagkain.


Bunga nito, dapat umanong pagsikapang mabuti ng Pilipinas na mapatatag ang produksyon ng palay upang hindi na tayo umangkat pa sa ibang bansa at hindi maging dependent sa mga ito.
Mula sa Senado, iginiit nina Senate majority leader Francis ‘Kiko’ Pangilinan at Sen. Mar Roxas sa Pangulo na palagan ang planong pagbuo ng OREC ng mga katabing bansa sa Asya dahil kung mangyayari ito, “We will soon be at the mercy of this proposed Organization of Rice Exporting Countries.”


“The rice cartel will be anti-poor and its global implications will be tremendous,” ani Pangilinan.

/www.abante.com.ph

By Ira Karen Apana, Senior Reporter (http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/may/01/yehey/top_stories/20080501top7.html)

Philippine elementary and high-school textbooks still talk of the Philippines as an agricultural country which it was in the pre-Second World War era up to the 1980s.

That is no longer the case, though. In 2007 the share of agriculture (including forestry and fishing) in the gross domestic product (GDP) was only 14.1 percent, basically the same as in 2005 and 2006 (14 percent). GDP refers to the total value of all goods and services produced within a country in a year.

The 2007 GDP share of the service sector was 54.6 percent and that of industry was 31.3 percent.

Before World War II, most of the Philippine exports were agricultural and forest products.

After independence from the United States in 1946, the Philippines initially remained dependent on free-trade access to US markets for its agricultural commodities, especially sugar.

The decline of the sugar industry involved many factors, including the expiration of a US quota system on sugar. The quota favored the Philippines against other sugar-producing countries. The Philippines got some of Cuba’s quota when that country became communist under Fidel Castro.

Another factor for the decline was the drop in the world price of sugar caused by the improvement of sugar harvests and production, milling and refining facilities in other countries. Meanwhile, Filipino sugar barons mainly let the industry deteriorate, kept sugar workers underpaid, and did not bother to upgrade their planting, milling and refining technology.

The increase in the use of sugar substitutes also took a lot from global sugar consumption.

Coconuts

The Philippines also exported great quantities of vegetables and fruits like bananas, calamansi, pomelo, coconuts, pineapples, avocadoes, mangoes, guavas, mangosteen, jackfruits, Spanish melons and cantaloupes, watermelons, papayas and root crops.

Coconuts are still the most important cash crops, and the Philippines is one of the world’s leading exporters of coconut products, including coconut oil and copra (dried coconut).

But buko exports (young coconuts) have declined to near zero.

As of February 2008, the government’s list of agricultural and agri-based products that the country exports include copra, coconut oil, dessicated coconut, and copra meal or cake; sugar and its byproducts (centrifugal and refined sugar, plus molasses); fruits and vegetables (canned pineapple, pineapple juice, pineapple concentrates); bananas and mangoes; fish (fresh or preserved); shrimps and prawns; raw coffee (not roasted); abaca fibers; unprocessed tobacco; natural rubber; ramie fibers; dried seaweeds and a very small volume of rice.

Reasons for decline

Department of Agriculture Undersecretary for Exports Berna Romulo-Puyat cited different reasons for the decline of agriculture itself and of agricultural exports.

She said for some products, it is lack of supply, pest infestations, higher demand for processed products, high freight cost and poor quality resulting from lack of technology.

Puyat said her department is trying to help the farmers find solutions to their problem.

The other reasons she and other farming experts enumerated are the conversion of agricultural land into real-estate properties, the farmers’ lack of capital, the switch of farms from food crops to biotech crops, the low income farmers get from farming and the loss of interest in agriculture among the children of farmers and agriculturists.

Volume and prospects

In the latest Agriculture department report, the US remains as the country’s top agricultural export market. In 2007 it imported 902,000 metric tons or $790- million worth of agri products. Japan followed with $418 million, then the Netherlands’ $258 million, South Korea $181 million, and Thailand $102 million.

The Agriculture department said dessicated coconuts were the number one export, bringing in $157.43 million, which was an increase of 13.63 percent over 2006 sales. The top buyers of dessicated coconuts are the United States ($44.526 million), United Kingdom ($18.92 million), Australia ($10.24 million), and the Netherlands ($9.84 million).

The 2007 exports of fresh pineapples increased 205.65 percent in value over 2006 and increased 178.22 percent in volume. Total sales value in 2007 was $56.84 million. It was only $18.6 million in 2006. The top markets were Japan ($36.92 million), South Korea ($13.02 million), New Zealand ($1.63 million), and Taiwan ($976,320).

Dried pineapple exports reached $351,575 in 2007, more than double the 2006 figure of $144,332. Export volumes on the other hand increased by 225 percent from 66.02 metric tons exported in 2006 to 214.6 metric tons in 2007.

Export values for prepared or preserved pineapples rose by 14.73 percent from $95.55 million in 2006 to $109.63 million in 2007. Export volumes also increased from 163,885 metric tons in 2006 to 175,151 metric tons in 2007.

Dried mangoes’ export volumes and values increased also in 2007. Export volumes increased by 167.76 percent from 846 metric tons in 2006 to 2,265 metric tons in 2007.

Mango puree export volumes rose by 5.51 percent from 7,438 metric tons in 2006 to 7,848 metric tons in 2007. Export values rose only by 1.97 percent from $8.77 million in 2006 to $8.95 million in 2007.

Mango juice exports recorded an increase in both export volumes and values in 2007. Export volumes increased by 41.83 percent from 2,934 metric tons in 2006 to 4,162 metric tons in 2007. Export value rose by 19.99 percent from $2.77 million in 2006 to $3.33 million in 2007.

Tuna export volumes increased by 49.66 percent from 23,542 metric tons in 2006 to 35,234 metric tons in 2007. Export sales rose by 65.18 percent from $60.39 million in 2006 to $99.76 million in 2007.

For meat, overall meat exports experienced an increase in both volume and value for 2007 against the 2006 figures. Export volumes increased by 25.69 percent from 2,367 metric tons in 2006 to 2,976 metric tons in 2007. Export sales increased by almost 100 percent (99.94 percent) in 2007, rising from $4.12 million in 2006 to $8.24 million in 2007.

Exports losers

The export “losers,” according to the Agriculture department, are fresh young coconuts, crude copra oil, refined copra oil, raw coco coir, and processed coco coir.

Puyat said fresh mango exports have also been declining. But on April 18, eight Philippine fresh mango companies were given approval to export mangoes to China. This gives hopes of good income to some 2.5 million Filipino mango farmers.

Puyat said China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision has approved Filipino companies’ technologies that kill micro organisms in the fruits.

Other exports losers, she added, are fresh bananas, seaweeds, shrimp and prawns.

Landbank allocates P1.5B for rice farming loans in Mindanao

DAVAO CITY, Philippines - The Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank) is allocating P1.5 billion to prop up rice production in Mindanao.

Delia M. Ladao, head of Landbank Mindanao Branch Group, said the money is about a third of the total P5 billion available for rice production nationwide and will be coursed through the bank’s microfinance institution partners.

She said they have been in touch with the Mindanao Microfinance Council, a local group comprising microfinance lenders, to thresh out the nitty-gritty of the program and make the process more accessible to target beneficiaries. The council has 43 member institutions composed of 22 rural banks, nine nongovernment organizations, eight cooperatives, and four cooperative banks with at least 500 active microfinance clients.

"The MFIs (microfinance institutions) should think of how they could lend out to micro-agri and reach out to small farmers," she said, adding that 93% of the P20-billion total loan portfolio of Landbank in Mindanao is intended for agriculture and only seven percent is for non-agricultural use.

Last year, the bank lent to 52 micro-financing conduits: 34 rural banks, 15 cooperatives, and three nongovernment organizations. The Landbank is mandated to lend to microfinance borrowers through Republic Act 8425, or the Social Reform and Poverty Alleviation Act.

Ms. Ladao said lending conduits have become more aggressive in helping small farmers access funds, with account officers who go directly to the communities and set up cells composed of five to 20 members in the tradition of the Grameen banking system, a no-collateral lending model pioneered by Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus.

Agriculture Undersecretary Jesus Emmanuel M. Paras told a gathering here last month that the rice situation in the country would be beneficial for Mindanao because of its potential for rice production with its fair weather conditions and fertile lands. "We just need to further develop and maximize these resources by putting more priority projects. We need to put in investments and come up with concrete short- term programs and project proposals that can lead to an early solution to rice supply problem," Mr. Paras said.

Tomasito S. Villarin, Mindanao representative to the National Organic Agriculture Board, said the Siad in Mindanao Convergence for Asset Reform and Regional Development, a nongovernment organization, has 14,000 hectares in Davao del Sur and Cotabato ready for planting organic rice if the government will just release P80 million for the storage facilities, seeds, and other support services. He said the government can expect a yield of 1.68 metric tons in just 120 days. - Joel B. Escovilla, Business www.gmanews.tv

5,000 hectares of tobacco farms eyed for intensified rice growing

NTA spearheads stepped-up efforts to increase palay harvests



NARVACAN, Ilocos Sur — Some 5,000 hectares of tobacco farms are being eyed as additional areas for palay growing to help meet the rice requirements of tobacco farmers in line with the Arroyo administration’s accelerated efforts to increase palay harvest and mitigate the effect of a food crisis that is affecting the whole world.

The National Tobacco Administration (NTA) said the other day a 26,000-strong umbrella group of tobacco farmers led by the Philippine Association of Tobacco-Based Cooperatives (PATCO) and other industry stakeholders are ready to support an intensified palay production program of the Department of Agriculture (DA) in response to this global problem.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap lauded the support of the major stakeholders in the tobacco industry-- cigarette manufacturers, tobacco buyers and exporters, redrying plant and trading center operators, contract growers or farmers -- for the department’s heightened moves to achieve record high in palay harvests and raise the national self-sufficiency level in rice from 92.38 percent this year to 98 percent in 2010.

Yap said that in the face of the global food problem, all sectors have to "act fast and work together" in stabilizing the supply and prices of rice and other food crops in the long term.

NTA Administrator Carlitos Encarnacion said that several tobacco companies, including wholesale leaf buyers Universal Leaf Philippines Inc. (ULPI) and Trans-Manila Inc. (TMI), have pledged to support the DA’s stepped-up rice-production initiative this year by committing additional areas for palay growing under the NTA’s existing tobacco-rice program.

Negotiations are in progress with other wholesale tobacco dealers, trading centers and redrying plant operators, Encarnacion said. "We expect the industry’s total coverage for palay production to reach 5,000 hectares."

This could translate into a production of 25,600 metric tons of palay, valued at R435.2 million or 16,640 metric tons of rice, he said, adding thish is enough to feed 60,000 tobacco farmers and their dependents plus 81,000 other people for one year.

In the past nine years, PATCO has participated in the Tobacco-Rice Program of the NTA, producing palay at a yield average of 5.2 metric tons (MT) per hectare using inbred seeds, Encarnacion said.

With complementary funding from the DA-attached Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC), Encarnacion said that NTA’s Tobacco "Rice Program will be expanded in the coming season to 1,250 hectares, assisting 2,500 farmer-cooperators.

He said that PATCO has requested for production assistance from the government, including a DA subsidy equivalent to one cavan of certified palay seeds per hectare of committed tobacco lands.

The expanded tobacco-rice program of the NTA, which targets an initial 1,250 hectares, aims to produce 6,400 MT of palay valued at P108.8 million, he said, or more than enough to meet the annual rice requirements of some 2,500 tobacco farmers and 15,000 of their dependents, which is equivalent to 2,723 MT combined.

In addition, this expanded program will contribute to the national palay supply by 3,677 MT valued at R 62.1 million, which is equivalent to 2,390 MT of rice, enough to feed 20,254 people," Encarnacion said. (C. B. Molina) www.mb.com.ph

GMA urged to bring down onion price
By: Alex Silva
A consumer group yesterday urged President Arroyo to bring down the price of onions despite it being the harvest season for the produce.

Lawyer Quirino Marquinez, founding president of Consumers Union of the Philippines, asked the President urge to local onion producers and retailers to cut onion prices in the market as millions of Filipinos cope with the spiraling cost of living.

Marquinez said he learned that local onion harvest was down, particularly in Nueva Ecija, where the produce is mostly grown.

He urged the President through Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap to issue an import permit on onions and other agricultural products to stabilize the high prices of onion, which now has reached P80 per kilo in wet markets.

The consumer group head also said that with the coming of rainy season, the prevailing price of onion could reach into P150 to P200 per kilo, to the detriment of the consuming public. www.journal.com.ph

Isda sa Laguna de Bay ligtas kainin -- BFAR
TINIYAK ng Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) na ligtas kainin ang mga isdang nahuhuli sa Laguna de Bay.

Ayon kay BFAR Director Malcolm Sarmiento, napatunayan sa pag-aaral na walang masamang epekto ang heavy metals na nakahalo sa tubig sa paligid na tinukoy ng United Nations Food and Agriculture Organizations .

Partikular na tinukoy ang mga isdang galing ng Laguna de Bay na ligtas kainin ng publiko ay ang isdang dalag, bangus, tilapia, ayungin, maya-maya, at karpa.

Naunang sinabi ng ilang sektor hindi ligtas kainin ang mga isdang galing ng Laguna de Bay dahil mataas ang porsiyento ng heavy metals tulad ng lead, mercury at cadminum na nakakain ng mga nasabing isda.

Subalit, lumalabas sa pag-aaral na nakita sa mga fish sample na mababa ang mercury sa itinatakdang limit na 0.5 parts per million (ppm) ng FAO circular no. 825, Food Regulations Standard Applied. Arlene Rivera www.journal.com.ph

The government shouls seriously stop the smuggling of imported agri products.
Majority of smuggled agricultural products are unfit for human consumption and carry various diseases.

The government should install various protection to our agricultural products from unfair foreign competition..

Must be serious in attaining food and agricultural self-sufficiency because we are an agricultural nation...

^ I agree, smuggling of imported agri-products should be stopped......


Land Use Committee to review proposal to declare rice lands as ‘protected areas’
By Jennifer A. Ng
Reporter


THE National Land Use Committee (NLUC) will review the proposal submitted by the Department of Agriculture (DA) to the Office of the President to declare all rice lands in the Philippines as protected areas.

Citing pertinent provisions in the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act (Afma), the DA wants to protect all irrigated areas, all irrigable lands already covered by irrigation projects with firm funding commitments and all alluvial plains highly suitable for agriculture.

Representatives from the agriculture department said the proposal is aimed at helping the country achieve rice self-sufficiency and help insulate the country from external price shocks.

Officer-in-charge Deputy Director General of National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Regional Development Office Marcelina Bacani, who is also the current chairman of NLUC, traced the root of the problem to the lack of implementation of existing policies regarding land use.

“Sixteen years ago, an NLUC technical working group formulated Administrative Order 20, or the Interim Guidelines on Agricultural Land Use Conversion, which was issued by President Ramos. This order contains provisions on protecting prime agricultural lands and became the basis for subsequent laws such as the Afma,” she said.

AO 20 and the Afma protect agricultural lands that are irrigated or about to be irrigated from conversion to industrial or residential zones.

During the meeting, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) mentioned that an office memorandum circular (MC) has been issued (dated April 15, 2008) to temporarily suspend the processing and approval of all land-use conversion (LUC) applications.

This is in view of the presidential pronouncement for the review of conversion guidelines with the DA and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

More on this link:
http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/0509&102008/economy01.html






Government urged to use financial resources
to build sufficient rice supply from production
By Fernan Marasigan
Reporter
http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/0509&102008/economy02.html

INSTEAD of pursuing active procurement of rice imports, the Department of Agriculture (DA) must use the scarce financial resources of the government to build up sufficient rice supply from domestic production, a militant legislator said Thursday.

Party-list Rep. Crispin Beltran of Anakpawis made the call even as he opposed the DA’s plan of massive rice importation.

“We cannot rely forever on rice imports as rice-exporting countries are cutting back on their export quotas. The government must address the rice-supply issue based on short-term and long-term solutions,” said Beltran.

“The problem lies in the national policies. It is urgent for the government to consider redirection of policies that will maximize the utilization of our rice self-sufficiency potentials, in the interest of millions of rice producers and Filipinos. Heavy importation of rice staples further highlights the country’s severe food insecurity,” he added.

Beltran also asked Congress to discuss House Resolution 521, urging the national government to stop the policy of relying on massive rice importation and institutionalize a program of developing the rice industry.

The resolution said that the rice industry continue to suffer from underdevelopment because of backward production, exploitation of small rice farmers and lack of necessary support infrastructure such as irrigation, postharvest facilities and farm-to-market roads.

Beltran said the domestic rice industry became unsustainable mainly because of the government’s dependence on imported supply.

He noted that rice industry in the country is small-scale with an average production unit of 2.5 hectares. Production is largely manual or nonmechanized with majority of rice farmers still using carabao farming and only one-third of rice lands are irrigated and postharvest facilities are poorly developed, he added.

“Unbridled rice importation using the present rice crisis as pretext will not induce our rice farmers to produce more and meet our consumption needs and self-reliance targets. On the contrary, it will move them to abandon rice production not only because of high costs but also because their products are bumped off in the domestic market,” Beltran said.

Beltran said the present rice crisis is the coming into full circle of the vicious cycle of underdevelopment and underproduction of the rice industry because of government neglect, mindless land use conversion and overreliance on massive rice imports.

“The current situation, which the Arroyo administration insists on calling rice shortage and price crisis is but the open eruption of the crisis of the rice industry, which, for years, has been contained and hidden by the government with the camouflage of massive rice importation,” he said.

Dagsa ng supply ng strawberry inaasahan
MALAKI ang posibilidad na magtuloy-tuloy ang kita at ani ng mga strawberry growers sa Benguet kahit pa sa panahon ng tag-ulan.

Inaasahang magiging sagana na rin ang supply ng strawberry habang hinihintay ang pagdating ng bagong mga variety ng prutas na makakatugon sa problema ng mga magsasaka.

Nabatid kay Benguet Governor Nestor Fongwan, nakatakda silang bumili ng 20 greenhouse variety ng prutas mula sa Holland.

Ang mga sample ng iba’t ibang variety na ito ay itatanim sa iba’t ibang bahagi sa low land at upland sa Benguet upang malaman kung paano ito tutubo at lalaki sa uri ng klima na nararamdaman sa Benguet.

Kabilang sa mga lugar na susubukang taniman ng iba’t ibang variety ng strawberry ay La Trinidad, Atok at Mankayan.

Ang mga strawberry na naani at nabibili sa Baguio City ay karaniwang pinalalaki sa malawak na taniman. Ang uri ng variety na ito ay hindi nabubuhay kapag panahon ng tag-ulan sa bansa.

Ang mga strawberry na nabibili sa La Trinidad ay dagsa lamang tuwing Pebrero hanggang Abril.

Sinabi ni Fongwan na ang greenhouse variety na kanilang bibilhin ay inaasa-hang makakatugon sa problema ng mga strawberry farmers at magtuloy-tuloy na rin ang kanilang kita kahit tag-ulan.

Ang La Trinidad partikular na sa Barangay Pico, Poblacion, Puguis at Betag ang pangunahing producer ng strawberry sa Cordillera. 35 porsyento ng mga residente doon ay nmagtatanim at nagbebenta ng strawberry.

Noong 2005 pa ang pinakahuling pag-angkat ng pamahalaan ng mga imported varieties ng strawberry sa California.

Sinabi ni Fongwan na ang mga materyales na gina-gamit sa pagtatamim ng strawberry ay kailangang palitan kada dalawa hanggang tatlong taon upang masiguro ang magandang produksyon. www.journal.com.ph

PALAYS can both be a staple food and a source on Biofuel too.

Why not turn the Palay Husks into biofuels by finding the right enzymes to break them and produce ethanol or other methyl esters.

Farmers should also collect and keep the Palay husks into sacks and sell them to the Universities for research into biofuels.....

Produksiyon ng bigas umangat ng 4%
UMANGAT sa apat na porsiyento ang produksiyon sa bigas ng mga magsasaka kung saan naitala ang 1.73 milyong tonelada ang ani sa unang bahagi ng taon.

Ayon kay Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, lumago ang produksyon sa 4.68 porsiyento sa taong 2007 habang ang kabuuang economic output ay umabot ng 7.3 percent.

Sinabi pa ni Yap ang nasabing rekord sa first quarter rice production ay nangangahulugan na hindi na kailangan pa ng pama-halaan na maangkat ng bigas.

“When we go back to the market, we will go back with a lot of flexibility,” pahayag ni Yap sa ginanap na quarterly report ng DA.

Nabatid na ang bansa ang pinakamalaking rice importer sa buong mundo kung saan nag-import ito ng 1.7 milyong tonelada ng palay sa taong 2008 at dag-dag na importasyon na tinatayang 2.2 milyong to-nelada.

Ang presyo ng mga imported rice ay tumaas nga-yong taon dahil sa pag-export ng mga ibang bansa at ang pangamba sa kakulungan ng supply.

Ngunit ayon kay Yap napapanatili naman ng Pili-pinas ang pangangailangan sa bigas at kailangan pa rin ang importasyon para mapanatili ang stocks ng bigas.

Nabatid na ang unmilled rice output ay umabot sa 3.75 milyong tonelada sa unang bahagi ng taon na mataas ng 1.96 percent sa dating output noong nakaraang taon.

Ayon pa kay Yap, dapat ay umabot ang produksyon ng 7.1 hanggang 7.3 mil-yong tonelada sa unang kalahating taon at kabuu-ang taon. Arlene Rivera www.journal.com.ph

RP farm output up 4 pct in Q1, DA upbeat on rice

Philippine agricultural output in the first quarter of the year rose 4.0 percent year-on-year and rice production was on course to reach a record 17.3 million tons in 2008, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said on Tuesday.

The agriculture sector, which accounts for around a fifth of economic output, grew 4.68 percent in 2007, while overall economic growth reached a 31-year high of 7.3 percent.

The government will announce first quarter economic growth figures later this month.
Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said the first quarter rice production figures meant the government did not need to hastily import more of the national staple.

“When we go back to the market, we will go back with a lot of flexibility,” he told reporters.

The Philippines, the world’s biggest rice importer, has bought about 1.7 million tons of the grain so far for 2008 and has said it may need about 2.2 million tons.

International rice prices have surged this year because of curbs by exporting nations and global worries about supply. Governments across the world, including in the Philippines, have been taking steps to ensure stability is not affected by food prices.

But Yap and other officials have said demand in the Philippines has essentially been met and further imports will be necessary only to maintain buffer stocks.

The Department of Agriculture said unmilled rice output reached 3.75 million tons in the first quarter, up 1.96 percent over the year-ago figure. Production should be 7.1-7.3 million tons in the first half and the full-year goal easily reached, Yap said.

The government has set a target of raising agricultural output by 4.5-5.5 percent this year.

The first quarter figure outpaced the 3.3 percent expansion in the corresponding period of 2007, the agriculture department said.

Output of crops rose 5.59 percent and accounted for half of total agricultural production, the department said. Fisheries output grew 4.41 percent while poultry production rose 4.40 percent. But output of the livestock sector fell 3.36 percent as hog production dropped. AP thedailyguardian.com

PALAYS can both be a staple food and a source on Biofuel too.

Why not turn the Palay Husks into biofuels by finding the right enzymes to break them and produce ethanol or other methyl esters.

Farmers should also collect and keep the Palay husks into sacks and sell them to the Universities for research into biofuels.....

you're talking of lignocellulosic fermentation there, but as of now, thats still in the research stage, even developed countries haven't found out yet any process of lignocellulosic fermentation that is really feasible..... it would turn out that the production cost of bioethanol from lignocellulosic fermentation would be significantly higher than fermentation from juice sugars.

so far the only crop that has been evaluated to be good fermentation feedstock, made up more complex material than simple juice sugars, is cassava (ie cassava starch, which is easier to hydrolyze than cellulose....)

methyl ester from palay husks would be very hard to obtain, perhaps ethyl esters? (using ethanol - oil transesterification catalyzed by Sodium ethoxide)... but then again the alcohol ingredient for transesterification is just a small amount, its the oil (triacylglycerides) supply that needs to be addressed.

you're talking of lignocellulosic fermentation there, but as of now, thats still in the research stage, even developed countries haven't found out yet any process of lignocellulosic fermentation that is really feasible..... it would turn out that the production cost of bioethanol from lignocellulosic fermentation would be significantly higher than fermentation from juice sugars.

so far the only crop that has been evaluated to be good fermentation feedstock, made up more complex material than simple juice sugars, is cassava (ie cassava starch, which is easier to hydrolyze than cellulose....)

methyl ester from palay husks would be very hard to obtain, perhaps ethyl esters? (using ethanol - oil transesterification catalyzed by Sodium ethoxide)... but then again the alcohol ingredient for transesterification is just a small amount, its the oil (triacylglycerides) supply that needs to be addressed.

This is the debate of Food vs. Fuel. May article ang Wikipedia rito:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_vs_fuel

Lowly ginger now costs P150-P180/kg
By: Jun Abad
PEOPLE’S Tonight went to Paco Market yesterday and the reportorial team was surprised at the high cost of the lowly ginger which sells at P150-P180 per kilo -- if you can find any, that is.

We were somewhat elated to find that the street near the market virtually bloomed with low-quality onion wrapped 6 pieces per pack and costing P10 each.

At last, price speculators have started flooding Metro Manila markets with tiny and inferior quality onions, fit only for the table of the poorest of the poor.

The onions are wrapped inside small plastic bags and sold at P10 each. The bigger ones sell at P120 per kilo or P30 per ¼ kg. The bigger ones, however, will not pass quality control standards of big volume consumers, like fast food chains and 5-star hotels which cater to foreign tourists.

The price of ginger skyrocketed overnight after several shipments of the vegetable worth several millions of pesos were seized by Customs authorities due to lack of import permit. In the case of onions, the importers of the seized onions just paid the Customs fine and surcharges and promptly passed on the “extra cost” to the consumers.

Yesterday, ginger importers in Divisoria hid their stocks after hearing radio reports that Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group operatives were preparing to raid several warehouses keeping large shipments of supposedly smuggled ginger.

It now appears that “unthinking” government lawmen are the ones “destabilizing” the market and eventually create artificial food supply shortages and price crisis.

During a recent media briefing on rice price crisis, President Macapagal-Arroyo reminded the National Bureau of Investigation to refocus their effort by going after sugar smugglers and “not touch rice importers” as she announced the immediate lifting of government restrictions on rice importation.

Ms. Arroyo promptly removed import control apparently to stabilize rice supply and prices. This encouraged vegetable importers, who have brought their plight to the attention of the President.

Meanwhile, Undersecretary Antonio “Bebot” Villar Jr., Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group (PASG) chief, said his office received information that traders at 1071-D Carmen Planas St., Bgy. 2, Tondo, Manila, were peddling imported gingers.

“We received highly reliable information that some unscrupulous traders selling vegetables in the area are into smuggling of imported gingers,” Villar said.

The PASG elements searched the different stalls in the said market and discovered 833 boxes of ginger suspected to be imported from other countries worth P1.3 million.

The owner of the stall who identified himself as Brian Ong is engaged in buy and sell of vegetables.

Supt. Johnny Bacbac stated in his report to Villar that Ong failed to show any document pertaining to the imported gingers.

The owner claimed that he bought the produce from a supplier whom he did not identify. www.journal.com.ph

The government should stop agricultural smuggling and install immediately protective tariffs and safeguards for our farm markets..

The government must launch a serious food self-sufficiency program..:)

Farm subsidy must be given to our farmers just like what the industrialized countries are giving to their farmers...

China allows RP to export mangoes

By MARVYN N. BENANING

Beijing has permitted eight Philippine companies to export mangoes to China starting this month, a move that the Department of Agriculture (DA) said would benefit 2.5 million growers.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur C. Yap said the eight exporters are the Fruitful Harvest Corp., Mabuhay 2000 Inc., PhilHarvest Agro Marketing Corp., Diamond Star Agro Products Inc., DHM Philippine Produce Inc., Wenatchee Marketing Corp., HiLas Marketing Corp., and Marsman Drysdale Food Corp.

Beijing relayed the news in a letter sent last April 18 to Undersecretary for Special Concerns Berna Romulo Puyat by Liang Wentao, the Chinese Embassy’s Economic and Commercial Counselor.

Leaders of the mango industry trooped to the DA last Monday to thank agriculture officials for helping them win China as an export market.

Among them were Jean Lui, owner of Fruitful Harvest, Estrella Gonzales of Philippine Harvest, Tony Tiu of Mabuhay 2000, and Reynaldo Mangilit of Diamond Star.

"On behalf of mango growers and exporters, we thank the DA and Beijing quarantine officials as well for helping us and our 2.5 million mango farmers, penetrate China’s multibillion-dollar fruit market," said Lui.

Also present during the visit to the DA office were William Co, former agricultural attache to China ; Qiu Zhijun, First Secretary, Office of Commercial and Economic Affairs of the Chinese Embassy; and Liang Wen Tao, Commercial Counselor of the Chinese Embassy.

Beijing’s move would further strengthen existing bilateral ties between the two countries, according to the DA.

The exporters complied fully with the requirements for extended hot water treatment (EHWT) as specified last year by inspectors and technical staff from China, DA said.

Puyat said Beijing gave the go-ahead after officials from its General Administration for Quality Supervision, Inspection, and Quarantine (AQSIQ) visited Manila last month to check on food safety and treatment facilities for Philippine mango exports.

"Our mango exporters want to relay their thanks to the Chinese quarantine officials for recognizing the efforts that they have done to make treatment facilities for Philippine mangoes at par with international sanitary and phytosanitary standards," Puyat said.

China earlier accepted the cheaper but effective EHWT that the DA had developed in tandem with the country’s premier research institutions as a qualified technology to ensure that Philippine mango exports meet global food safety standards.

Mango is among the Philippines’ top exports to China, which accounts for about 80 percent of total overseas sales of the fruit.

Puyat noted that "the viability of the fresh mango industry and the millions of farmers and their families who rely on it for their livelihood depends heavily on their ability to export their produce to China."

"Similarly, the substantial investments in EHWT facilities that have been required by AQSIQ also lay idle and need to be productive so that our exporters can recover their expenses in setting up such facilities," she added.

DA data show that around 500,000 metric tons (MT) of mangoes of the total 800,000 MT of annual production will be harvested during these peak months of March and April.

The EHWT, which had been perfected by the DA’s Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) and the University of the Philippines in Los Banos (UPLB), will reduce the cost of exporting mangoes to China by at least R20 a kilo, thus, spelling higher profits for Filipino exporters in the world’s largest food market.

Philippine mango exports to China in 2007 reached 933.33 MT, and this figure would rise significantly starting this year as a result of Beijing’s approval of the EWHT technology.

http://www.mb.com.ph/MAIN20080518124929.html

Banana plantations in Luzon pushed

By MADEL R. SABATER

The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) is aiming to increase lakatan banana (Scavendish) production in Luzon area to help Mindanao meet the growing import demands from banana and to lower the local cost of good quality lakatan bananas in the market.

In a press conference, Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD - DOST) Crops Research Division (CRD) director Dr. Jocelyn Eusebio said that though there is no banana shortage in the country, local prices of banana, particularly the lakatan cultivar, remains high because the local demand is competing with the export demand.

Eusebio lamented that there is currently a low production of lakatan in Luzon as lakatan banana comes from Mindanao, which increases the cost of lakatan due to transport costs.

"We’d like to decrease the price and increase production (of lakatan) in Luzon," she said.

"We’re also trying to improve the quality (of bananas) to increase the income of the farmers," s