Agriculture and Aquaculture Industry

[Weina]

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.

[Weina]

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...

[Fundador]

Honeydew melon grows well in lahar areas, engineer says
spacer


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

[red_jasper]

Neglect of agriculture cause of poverty, says UN body

By Michelle Remo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
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.

[Fundador]

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

[Fundador]

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

[Fundador]

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

[Fundador]

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

[red_jasper]

Philippines Raids Rice Warehouses to Combat Hoarding (Update3)

By Luzi Ann Javier



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


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

[red_jasper]

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

[-TC-]

http://www.philstar.com/index.php?He...id=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.

[red_jasper]

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

[Nabartek]

Originally Posted by Weina

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

[Fundador]

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

[Fundador]

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

[Nabartek]

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.

[habagatcentral1]

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.

[3cr]

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/RP...-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."

[3cr]

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