Aggie Trends March 2013 Issue

7/22/2019 Aggie Trends March 2013 Issue

1/12

Vol. XXVIII No. 3 A monthly publication of the Department of Agriculture March 2013

When the Philippines be-comes sufficient in rice, it doesnot mean it would no longer im-port.

Secretary Proceso Alcalasaid the country may still im-port because of its commitmentunder the World Trade Orga-nization (WTO), and the vol-ume would only serve as abuffer stock during leanmonths (July to September).

The government is on-track

in its goal of self-sufficiency inrice by end of 2013, the DAchief said.

This year, all the DA ef-fortsin partnership with localgovernment units, farmersgroups and the private sec-torare geared towards in-creasing our 2012 palay pro-duction of 18 million metrictons (MT) by 2 million MTmore, to achieve our goal un-der the Food Staples Suffi-ciency Program, he added.

The FSSP defines self-suf-

ficiency as the countrys abil-ity to meet its national food re-quirements, while maintaining

Suf f i c i e nc ydoes not mean

no imports

(Pls turn to p12)Rebounding from a two-year

slump, the countrys fisheries

sector expects brighter pros-pects starting this year, as tunacatch is picking up, and domes-tic fish supply is increasing as aresult of conservation efforts.

Agriculture Secretary ProcesoJ. Alcala said with the lifting of aban on tuna fishing at Pocket 1of the Pacific Ocean, Filipinofishermen have resumed theiroperations in 2012 in said area,resulting in more catch. Pocket1 of the Pacific Ocean isbounded by Micronesia, Palau,Papua New Guinea and Indone-

sia.As a result, commercial catchof tuna (bigeye and yellowfin) in2012 totaled 7,912 metric tons

Fishery sector faces bright prospects

(Pls turn to p10)

Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala (middle) poses with the governors and agriculture officers of the top 10 provinces chosen as the 2012Agri-Pinoy Rice Achievers, March 15, 2013, at the Philippine International Convention Center, in Pasay City. Also shown are DA undersecretaryJoel Rudinas, assistant secretary and national rice program coordinator Dante Delima, and governors Faustino Dy (Isabela), AmadoEspino (Pangasinan), Luisa Cuaresma (Nueva Vizcaya), Jocel Baac (Kalinga), Wilhelmino Sy-Alvarado (Bulacan), Aurelio Umali (NuevaEcija), Manuel Ortega (La Union), Douglas Cagas (Davao del Sur), Arturo Uy (Compostela Valley), Antonio Ceriles (Zamboanga del Sur),and their respective provincial agriculture officers.

Rice achievers get P110M

DA allots P26M forPhl rice industrybenchmark study

Ten provinces, 48 cities and

towns, 18 farmers groups, andmore than 460 agricultural exten-sion workers (AEWs) were de-clared the 2012 Agri-Pinoy Rice

Achievers, and received P110-million worth of project grantsand cash incentives.

They were chosen for produ-cing more palay that surpassedtheir targets, attaining a higheraverage yield per hectare, en-

couraging more farmers to use

quality seeds and employ mod-ern technologies, and allottingmore budget for rice-relatedprojects.

Agriculture Secretary ProcesoJ. Alcala congratulated andhanded over the awards to therespective provincial governors,city and municipal mayors, dur-ing the 2nd Agri-Pinoy Rice

Achievers Awards, March 15,

(Pls turn to p2)

(MT) and 77,730 MT, respec-tively, according to the DAs Bu-

reau of Agricultural Statistics(BAS). These were 31 and 13per cent (%) more compared tothe total catch in 2011 of bigeyetuna (6,021 MT) and yellowfintuna (68,625 MT), respectively.

Consequently, exports of freshand processed tuna in 2012 roseby 41% to $411 million (M) ver-sus $292 M in 2011, said Direc-tor Asis Perez, of the DAs Bu-reau of Fisheries and AquaticResources (BFAR).

Secretary Alcala said anotherbright spot is the increase of do-

mestic supply, particularly of In-dian sardines ortamban, mainlydue to conservation efforts and

To address the impending ef-fects of an agricultural free tradesystem in Southeast Asia by2015, the Department of Agricul-ture has allotted P26 million tobankroll a benchmark study onthe countrys rice economy incomparison with other rice-pro-ducing countries.

Agriculture Secretary Proceso

J. Alcala said the study will serveas a management tool in craft-ing interventions to make the

2013, at the Philippine Interna-

tional Convention Center, inPasay City.

The top 10 provinces includeNueva Ecija, Isabela,Pangasinan, Nueva Vizcaya,Bulacan, Kalinga, La Union,Davao del Sur, Compostela Val-ley and Zamboanga del Sur.

The other awardees are: 48towns and cities (pls see list onpage 12); 18 irrigators associa-tions (IAs), three small water im-pounding system farmers asso-

(Pls turn to p10)


2/12

Writers: Adora D. Rodriguez, Arlhene S. Carro, Bethzaida N. Bustamante,Catherine N. Nanta

Contributors: DA-RFU Info Officers, Public Info Officers of DA Bureaus,Attached Agencies & Corporations, MRDP & other Foreign-Assisted Projects

Photographers: Jose Lucas, Alan Jay Jacalan & Kathrino ResurreccionLay-out Artist: Bethzaida Bustamante and Almi Adeli Q. ErlanoPrinting &Circulation: Teresita Abejar & PCES Staff

Editor-In-Chief: Noel O. ReyesAssociate Editors: Cheryl C. Suarez & Adora D. Rodriguez

is published monthly by the Department of AgricultureInformation Service, Elliptical Road, Diliman, Quezon City. Tel. nos. 9288762loc 2148, 2150, 2155, 2156 or 2184; 9204080 or tel/fax 9280588. Thisissue is available in PDF file. For copies, please send requests via email:da_afis @yahoo.com.

Editorial

Para sa mga Bosing ng Palayan

2

Kadalasang mahiraptahaking mga daan angsinusugod ng mga agricul-tural extension workers(AEWs) ng Kagawaran paralamang mailapit sa mgamagsasaka ang mga pro-gram at suporta ng

pamahalaan. Sa tuwina,sinasalubong sila ng bagyo odili kayay mainit na panahon.

Ang lahat ng ito ay balewalasa kanila basta lamangmarating ang kanilangparoroonan at tupdin angtungkulin sa bayan.

Oras, pagod, at minsan pangay personal resourcesito ang malimit na kapalit ngmarubdob na sakripisyo ngmga farm technician nawalang-kapagurangdumadalaw sa malalayongkomunidad, para maitaguyod

ang maunlad at maskompetitibong sektor ngagrikultura.

Bilang pagpapahalaga sakanilang sipag at tiyaga, 460

AEWs mula sa buong bansaang ginawaran ng Depart-ment of Agriculture ngpagkilala sa idinaos na 2ndRice Achievers Awardsnoong Marso 15, 2013 saPhilippine InternationalConvetion Center.

Sila ang magigiting na riceexperts na nakikipag-diyalogo sa mga magsasaka

ng palay upang lalo pangmapabuti ang kani-kanilangsistema ng pagtatanim atmapataas ang antas at daming kanilang ani. Sa kabila nganumang balakid, regularsilang bumibisita sa mgapalayan upang turuan ngmga makabago at epektibongteknolohiya ng pagtatanimang mga magsasaka.

Mismong si Sec. Procy atAgri-Pinoy Rice CoordinatorAssistant Secretary DanteDelima ang nagbigay ng mga

tropeo sa mga awardeessambit ang matapat napasasalamat sa kanilangkontribusyon sa target na ricesufficiency para sa lahat ngPilipino.

Bukod sa mga farm techni-cian, binigyang parangal din

ang 18 irrigators association attatlong small water impoundingprojects. Tumanggap ang mgaito ng project grants nainaasahanag higit namagpapabuti ng kani-kanilangrice production.

Tampok sa Rice AchieversAwards ang mga local govern-ment units (LGUs) kabilang nawalang-sawang sumuporta sasektor ng pagsasaka kayanaman matagumpay nanapataas ang kanilangproduksyon at ani. Sampunglalawigan din ang itinanghal na

top producers ng bigaskabilang na ang Nueva Ecija,Isabela, Pangasinan, NuevaVizcaya, Bulacan, Kalinga, LaUnion, Davao del Sur,Compostela Valley atZamboanga del Sur.

Layunin ng Rice AchieversAwards na hikayatin ang mgaLGUs, IAs, SWISAs at AEWsna patuloy na makibahagitungo sa supisyente atsustenableng sektor ng palay.

At tila naman epektibo angincentive system na ito.

Hindi maikakaila na mas

mataas ang ani at mas malakiang kita sa mga palayan. Anglahat ng ito ay dahil sa patuloyna pagtutulong-tulong atpagpupunyagi ng lahat.

Kaya naman, dagdag samakikintab na tropeo atinsentibo, maramat lamang ngpatuloy nating kilalanin angwalang-kaparis napagpupursige at patuloy napasalamatan ang mga bossingng palayan.

Maraming salamat at saludokami sa inyo.

Sufficiency does ... (from p 1)

a buffer stock to be used in timesof need.

We are working to meet ourper capita consumption of about115 kilograms per person peryear, given our population ofabout 99 million, Secretary

Alcala said.

He said the governmentthrough the National Food Au-thority plans to import 187,000MT this year as buffer stock.

Said volume is barely eightpercent of 2.4 million MT im-ported by the previous adminis-tration in 2010, Sec. Alcala said.

Rice imports were reduced to860,000 MT in 2011, and500,000 MT last year.

This means that our efforts to-wards self-sufficiency and reduc-ing rice imports are gainingground, he noted.

Of course, our targets dependon weather conditions, espe-cially since climate change isupon us. And it plays an indis-pensable role in rice farming.This is precisely the reason whywe resort to buffer stocking, hesaid.

Once we achieve rice self-suf-ficiency by the end of 2013, wemay not be able to do away withour international commitmentsunder the WTO and ASEAN, thatrequire us to allow rice from othercountries to enter our borders,he said.

The Philippines is bound, un-der the WTO, to allow 350,000

MT of rice into the country, as itsminimum access volume or MAV.The 187,000 MT to be importedis within the MAV, and will beslapped with a 40% tariff.

This early, we are already pre-paring to balance the situationby exporting fancy, colored and

organic rice, which fetch higherprices in the international mar-ket than ordinary rice, the DAchief said.

In fact, the country has beenself-sufficient in rice for food asearly as last year, said AssistantSecretary and National Rice Pro-gram Coordinator Dante S.Delima.

Our 18-million MT palay pro-duction last year was equivalentto 11.75 million MT of milled rice.With a low consumption of about113 kilograms of rice per personper year, we estimated that ourrice production was able to meetthe needs of 97.6 million Filipi-nos last year, Delima explained.

This year, the targetted 20 mil-lion MT palay harvest wouldtranslate to 13 million MT ofmilled rice at 65% milling recov-ery. This would be more thanenough to feed 99 million Filipi-nos, as total consumption wouldonly amount to 11.2 million MT,at a per capita of 113 kg.

We would still have surplusfor buffer stock, seeds, process-ing, feeds, and waste, Delima

said. (Adam Borja, DA National RiceProgram)

Mango harvest in Dasoland. Sec. Alcala (left) holds a basketof mangoes harvested from Dasoland adventure park, in Dasol,

Pangasinan. Boasting of 7,500 mango trees, Dasoland was recentlyaccredited by the DAs Bureau of Plant Industry as a mango nurs-ery operator and source of quality mango seedlings. During hisvisit, on March 7, 2013, the DA chief said Dasoland owned bythe family of Menardo Jimenez, former president and CEO of GMA

media network will be included in the list agri-tourism sites thatthe DA will endorse to Filipino and foreign visitors. Joining him(from left) are Mrs. Carolina Jimenez of Dasoland, DA high valuecrops development program Director Jennifer Remoquillo, and DA

Ilocos Regional Director Valentino Perdido.


3/12March 2013 3

The Philippines is eyeing toexport yellow onions to othercountries, starting with Japan.

The Department of Agricultureis partnering with the NationalOnion Growers CooperativeMarketing Association, Inc.(Nogrocoma) to make it a real-ity.

Several DA andNOGROCOMA officials sent offa trial shipment of 20 metric tonsof yellow granex onions to Ja-pan, on March 16, 2013, at theManila Harbor Center.

The onions were harvestedfrom Bongabon, Nueva Ecijaconsidered as the countrys on-ion capital-and loaded in a 20-foot container van bound forOsaka, Japan.

Agriculture Secretary ChiefProceso J. Alcala said this sim-ply means that Filipino farmerscan produce quality farm prod-ucts like onions for export tocountries like Japan.

If the initial shipment con-forms to the quality standardsand accepted by the Japanesemarket, it would pave the way tofurther boosting our onion indus-try, and providing our farmersassured market and income, notonly in Bongabon, Nueva Ecija,but also in other onion-growingareas in the country, the DAchief added.

The trial shipment was a resultof a research funded by the DAHigh Value Crops DevelopmentProgram (HVCDP) through theBureau of Agricultural Research,called Enhancing the productiv-ity of yellow onion towards com-mercialization for the export mar-ket.

Phl eyes onion exports, sends trial shipment to Japan

Under the project, Bongabonfarmers were trained to producecost-efficient, export-quality on-ions using quality seeds andmodern production technologies.

Agriculture Assistant SecretarySalvador S. Salacup, who rep-resented Secretary Alcala duringthe send-off, said it has longbeen the vision of the DA to trainand empower farmers so theycan export, not only onions, butother vegetables and agriculturalcommodities as well.

Nogrocoma CEO Ms. DulceGozon said if the trial shipmentto Japan were successful, thecountry may start exporting yel-low onions again after 13 years.

The DA in partnership with the National Onion Growers Cooperative Marketing Assn. (Nogrocoma)recently sent a trial shipment of 20 tons of yellow granex onions from Bongabon, Nueva Ecija, bound

for Osaka, Japan. The send-off was led by DA assistant secretary Salvador S. Salacup (5 th from left).Also shown (from left) are DA-AMAS director Leandro Gazmin, NAFC deputy director Florabelle Uy-Yap, NAFC director Ariel Cayanan, Nogrocoma secretary-treasurer Fe Amor Ilagan, BPI director Clarito

Barron, Nogrocoma CEO Dulce Gozon, Japanese expert Dr. Tehuko Tinaga, and Leah Cruz, chairper-son of the national onion action team.

(Pls turn to p10)

Agriculture Secretary ProcesoJ. Alcala assured local govern-ment chief executives (LCEs)that the Department of Agricul-ture will continue to assist themto develop the agri-fishery poten-tials and explore agribusinessopportunities of their respectiveareas.

He made the assurance at theMag-AGRI Tayo! Forum on sus-taining and scaling up sustain-

able agriculture programs, March14, 2013, at the Ateneo de Ma-nila University, Quezon City, at-tended by LCEs whose towns orcities were previously declaredas Galing Pook awardees.

DA assures LGUs of strong support

Thus is the finding of a teamof medical experts from theUniversity of Santos Tomas(UST).

Such favorable attributeshould be indicated in the la-bel of bottles of virgin coconutoil (VCO), replacing the phraseno therapeutic claim, said

Administ ra to r Eucl ides G.Forbes of the DAs PhilippineCoconut Authority (PCA).

Hence, he has requested theDAs Bureau of Agricultural andFishery Products Standards(BAFPS) to allow producers toremove the phrase no thera-peutic claim on VCO labels,and replace it with increasesgood cholesterol or High Den-sity Lipoprotein (HDL).

He said the revision shouldbe done once the necessary

VCO increases good cholesterol

Galing Pook, an acronym forGantimpalang PanglingkodPook, is an annual search con-ducted by the Land Bank of thePhilippines and Galing PookFoundation that recognizesLGUs for their exemplary localgovernance, particularly in imple-menting innovative socio-eco-nomic development projects,and subsequently uplift the eco-nomic standards of farmers, fish-

ers, other ruralfolk, and the com-munity in general. The conteststarted in 1993.

He told the LCEs that the DAwill prioritize agri-fishery projectproposals where their LGUscould counterpart or share anequity. He said the DA preferscounterparting as it indicates thatthe town or province is willing tostake and invest, and thus seri-ous in effectively implementingprojects and programs for thebenefit of constituents.

The LCEs who presented therespective projects are: South

Cotabato for its organic agricul-ture program; San Jose, NuevaEcija for its farmer-entrepreneur-ship program; San Mateo,Isabela for mungo production;and Midsayap, North Cotabatofor its farm-to-market project.

Also present in the forum areLandbank of the Philippines VicePresident Catherine Villanueva,Galing Pook Executive DirectorEddie Dorotan, ABA partylist rep-resentative and DA former chiefLeonardo Montemayor, National

Anti-Poverty Commission Secre-tary and Lead Convenor JoelRocamora, and Edicio dela Torreof DA.

change in the Philippine NationalStandards (PNS) of VCO hasbeen facilitated and a subse-quently approved by the Bureauof Product Standards (BPS) andthe Food and Drug Administration(FDA).

Such change will definitelyboost the sale of VCO in both lo-cal and export markets, VCO,Forbes said.

The study, conducted by theUST Research Center for Natu-ral and Applied Sciences,showed that VCO is safe for hu-man consumption, and increasesHDL or good cholesterol. Thismakes the VCO drinkers lessprone to heart attack and stroke.

We only hear anecdotes of itsbenefits before, but now its the

scientists and doctors who haveconfirmed it, Agriculture Secre-

tary Proceso J. Alcala said.Dr. Christina Binag, the team

leader, said the study con-ducted for four months, andparticipated by 110 volunteers,who drank three tablespoonsof VCO every day, while another79 took placebo drug similar toVCO.

The four-month study done in2011 also showed that with orwithout VCO, only one risk fac-tor of hypertension, but con-trolled and no other clinicallysignificant abnormalities waspresent.

The team reported four mostcommon positive experiences,nemely: regular bowel move-ment; increased appetite andstamina; better sleep; and

weight lose or gain.(Pls turn to p10)


4/124

The Department of Agricultureis providing this year an initialP10 million (M) to support theinitiatives of a national mangofarmers group, and has sharedP5-million worth of farm equip-ment and inputs to farmers dur-ing a recent national mango con-gress.

Agriculture Secretary ProcesoJ. Alcala said the P10 M will fundthe major projects of the Philip-pine Mango Industry Foundation,Inc. (PMIFI) that include plantingof recommended mango seed-lings, provision of postharvestequipment and facilities, market-ing assistance, and capacity-building of PMIFI members, par-ticularly provincial mango grow-ers associations and coopera-tives.

The DA through its High ValueCrops Development Program(HVCDP) provided the amount to

PMIFI President Virginia de laFuente, during the15th NationalMango Congress, March 20,2013, at the Ramon MagsaysayTechnological University, in Iba,Zambales.

The Department of Agriculturewill vigorously support initiativesto enable farmers sell their pro-duce to institutional buyers.

Agriculture Secretary ProcesoJ. Alcala made the assurance

during a farmers forum, March14, 2013, spearheaded by theJollibee Foods Corporation(JFC), Catholic Relief Services(CRS), and the National Liveli-hood Development Corporation(NLDC).

DA supports farmer-entrepreneurship programThe three institutions have

been implementing a Farmer En-trepreneurship Program (FEP)since 2008. They train and fi-nance farmers groups to pro-duce and market quality farm

products such as vegetables toagribusiness enterprises.The DA chief said while the

countrys economy has beenimproving, small farmers, fishersand ruralfolk have not felt theeconomic improvement.

He said the FEP is one initia-tive that should be expanded andhighlighted to show that the pro-grams of the Aquino administra-tion is felt by small farmers andthe Filipino people, especially

those in the countryside.He said the DA has also es-

tablished last year six Agri-PinoyTrading Centers and will be con-structing eight more this year.

The DA is making sure thatthe trading centers are pro-farm-ers. We will assist them sell theirproduce directly to wholesalebuyers, Secretary Alcala said.

The DA chief was glad to hearthat Jollibee advocates organicfarming. He said the DA is find-ing ways of lowering the produc-

tion cost, and it will help farmersup to postharvest and process-ing by providing them neededequipment and facilities.

The FEP Forum was partici-pated by LGUs and academefrom Ilocos Sur, Pangasinan,Nueva Ecija, Quezon, Agusandel Sur, and Davao Oriental.

The participants presentedhow the FEP has helped smallfarmers groups create a moresystematic production and mar-keting approach that eventuallyled them to successfully sellingtheir produce to institutional mar-kets. (Marlo Asis, DA-AFIS)

Mango farmers get P15MFormed in 2001, the PMIFI is

composed of more than 1,000farmer-members nationwide,belonging to 15 mango growersassociations and federations.

During the congress, Secre-tary Alcala also raffled off to par-ticipants P5-million worth of farmequipment and inputs that in-

cluded 50 power sprayers, 10knapsack sprayers, 200 bags offlower-inducers, 10,000 mangoseedlings, and 10 draft carabaowith implements. The DA-HVCDP also provided Zambalesfarmers with 50,000 mangoseedlings.

Secretary Alcala urged mangofarmers to consider integrating intheir orchard other income-gen-erating projects like apiculture orhoney bee production, and rais-ing poultry, goats and sheep.

They may also consider trans-forming their mango farm into an

agro-tourism site, particularlyduring harvest season, the DAchief added.

For her part, HVCDP nationalprogram coordinator JenniferRemoquillo said the DA aims to

help prop up the countrysmango industry by providingneeded interventions to attainmajor targets under the mango

commodity road map.These include increasing pro-

duction and exports of fresh andprocessed mangoes by five per-cent (%) annually, and per capitaconsumption from 8.5 kilograms(kg) to 11.5 kg.

Last year, the country pro-duced 767,851 metric tons (MT)of mangoes. Of these, $58-mil-lion worth of fresh (17,908 MTvalued at $14M) and dried (4,855MT valued at $44M) mangoes

were exported to various coun-tries, from January to October2012, according to NSO foreigntrade statistics.

The DA-HVCDP under its four-year road map targets to in-crease mango production to955,823 MT this year, and 5%more annually, up to 1.1 millionMT by 2016, Remoquillo said.

To further improve the qualityof Philippine mangoes for bothdomestic and export markets,the DA-HVCDP is funding sev-eral researches through the Bu-reau of Agricultural Research(BAR), which include cultivar

development, improvement ofpeel thickness, color, sweetness,and resistance to pests and dis-eases like anthracnose andmango seed and pulp weevils.

The three-day 15th nationalmango congress was attendedby more than 500 mango grow-ers and industry stakeholders,local government officials led byZambales Gov. HermogenesEbdane, and mango experts andresource persons, who dis-cussed updates on sustainableand profitable mango production,raising organic mangoes, and

trends in post harvest technolo-gies, processing and marketing.(Catherine N. Nanta, DA-AFIS)

.

Secretary Alcala (middle) and DA-High Value Crops DevelopmentProgram national coordinator Jennifer Remoquillo (right) sign anagreement that will provide a P10-million support to the Philippine

Mango Industry Foundation Inc. (PMIFI) thru its presidentVirginia de la Fuente (left), during the 15th National MangoCongress, March 20, 2013, at the Ramon Magsaysay TechnologicalUniversity, in Iba, Zambales. Also shown (standing,2nd 3rd fromleft) are Zambales 2nddistrict Rep. Jun Omar Ebdane and Zambales

Governor Hermogenes Ebdane.

Secretary Alcala (middle) receives a plaque of appreciation fromJollibee Foods Corp. (JFC) president Grace Tan Caktiong (3rdfromright), during a Farmers Entrepreneurship Program forum, March14, 2013, in Mandaluyong City. Joining them (from left) are Red

Ribbon president Joseph Tan Buntiong, JFC finance officer Ysmael

Baysa, CRS Philippines head Ryan Russe l, NLDC presidentGondelina Amata, and JFC vice president Belen Rillo.


5/12March 2013 5

The DAs Philippine CoconutAuthority (PCA) is sustaining itscampaign to eradicate scale in-sects infesting coconut trees in

nine towns in Batangas.PCA Administrator EuclidesG. Forbes said the campaign isconducted by a team com-posed of the PCA Scale InsectControl Action Team (SICAT),DA technical men, and repre-sentatives from the Local Gov-ernment Units (LGUs).

The team has been imple-menting mitigating measureswhich include pruning, spray-ing and fertilization in the af-fected municipalities.

During our field tests, wefound out that mineral and/orvegetable oils and dishwashingliquid soap can be used as al-ternatives to pesticides,Forbes said.

PCA experts recommend theuse of mineral and/or vegetableoils with 4% concentration forspraying on scale insect-in-fested coconut trees, youngand old palms.

A dishwashing liquid soapwith 4% concentration mayalso be used as a spray solu-tion.

Spraying should be done ev-

ery 10 to15 days.Said alternatives are

cheaper and safer than pesti-cides, said Forbes.

The use of mineral and/orvegetable oils and dishwashingliquid soap as spray solution tocontrol scale insects was alsosupported by former UPLBChancellor Dr. Luis ReyVelasco, who is an entomolo-gist.

As part of the campaign, PCAscientist Ambrosio Raul Alfilersaid they also released thou-

sands of predators of scale in-sects in affected towns inBatangas, Quezon and La-guna: in Talisay (2,500), andSto. Tomas (3,000), inBatangas; Dolores (1,690),and Sampaloc (2,000), inQuezon; and 1,000 in Cavintiand Liliw, Laguna (1,000).

With the help of LGUs, farm-ers, landowners and other con-cerned agencies, the campaignagainst scale insect will suc-ceed. A united, community ef-fort is essential in getting rid of

this infestation, Forbes said.(Coconut Media Service)

PCA continues campaignagainst scale insects in

Batangas, Quezon

DTI to allot P2B to boost coco coir industryThe Department of Trade and

Industry (DTI) will infuse P2 bil-lion to augment the budget of theDAs Philippine Coconut Author-ity (PCA), particularly for pro-grams and projects to furtherdevelop coco coir products.

DTI Undersecretary Merly M.Cruz made the commitment dur-

ing the 2nd National Coco CoirSummit, themed May Pera saBunot,March 21-22, 2013, inLucena City.

By 2016, we intend to placethe countrys coco coir industryas the top three exporter of cococoir in the world, she said dur-ing the two-day event that gath-ered 1,000 coconut industrystakeholders.

Cruz said the industry targetsto achieve export revenue ofUS$50 million, domestic sales ofP1.7 billion, create 10,000 jobs,and increase the production of200,000 coconut farmers and450 small and medium enter-prises (SMEs).

To achieve the targets, shesaid the DA, DTI, and other in-dustry players should developeand expand domestic supply-base for coco coir, strengthenaccess to domestic and exportmarket information, and expandmarket linkage among industryplayers.

She presented four businessmodels, namely: community-based integrated processing;

big-brother integrator (with deco-rticating plant and outsourcestwining to communities); tuftingfacility as market consolidator ofcoco twines; and triple-armor ap-plication of coir in mining sites.

She said other sunrise coco-nut by-products that have exportpotentials are coco peat (whichserves as a soil conditioner),geo-textile, coco nets and cocofascines.

She said the US, China, Euro-pean Union and other Asiancountries remain the big poten-tial export markets for coir mat-tresses, rubberized coir, coirtufted mats and coir twines andyarns.

At present, Cruz said our ma-jor export markets for coco coir,

peat and other by-products suchas raw or baled fiber are China,Japan, Taiwan, and USA; forcoco peat and dust - China, Ko-rea, Singapore, and Japan; forcoco twines or cordage - China,EU, UAE, US, and Asian coun-tries like India, Indonesia, Viet-nam; and Malaysia and US forother products such as carpets.

Cruz said the government andthe private sector should jointlyinvest in support industries suchas transport, machinery and an-cillaries, and strengthening ofsmall coconut farmers coopera-

tives, associations and proces-sors.She said there are now two

new government programs sup-porting the industry, the SharedService Facilities (SSF) of theDTI and Coco Tufting Facility ofthe DA-PCA.

Data from the PCA show thatthe Philippines lags behind incoconut production and volumeof coir exports in 2011 comparedwith other countries like SriLanka, India, Thailand, and In-donesia.

Last year, the country pro-duced only 6,037 metric tons(MT) of coco coir products forexport, from more than 15 billionnuts harvested from 3.5 millionhectares.

On the other hand, Sri Lankaproduced and exported 20 times(120,600 MT) of coco coir prod-ucts.

From 2010 to 2012, thecountrys coco coir exports in-cluded raw or baled fiber (62 per-

cent), coco peat or dust (25 per-cent), coco twines or cordage(11 percent), and other products(2 percent), Cruz said.

The attendance of partici-pants from various governmentagencies, industry players andstakeholders clearly signifies thesustained interest in and enthu-

siastic support for the coco coirindustry. Working harmoniouslytogether and consolidating ourresources and efforts, we can alllook forward to a sustained fu-ture, said PHILCOIR, Inc. Presi-dent Ariel F. Aguirre.

Aguire said a draft executiveorder (EO) creating the Philip-pine Coco Coir Industry Devel-opment Council (PCCIDC) hasbeen done and submitted toPresident Aquino for his consid-eration and approval.

The EO creating the PCCIDCaims to promote the develop-

ment of the coco coir industryand directing domestic utilizationin organic agriculture, horticul-ture and soil erosion controlprojects of government, expand-ing value-adding and export pro-motion.

Once the EO is signed, the in-dustry can look forward to thecreation of a big domestic mar-ket for coco coir products, spe-cially, coco nets to be used bythe DPWH for slope protectionand erosion control for its roadconstruction projects as well as

DENR for rehabilitation miningsites; and coco peat to be usedby the DA and the PCA for thefertilization of coconuts andother agricultural crops.

We are hopeful that this EOwill finally unlock the huge eco-nomic potential of the coco fiberand coco peat subsectors bring-ing about the unprecedentedgrowth and helping alleviatepoverty in the countryside,

Aguirre said. (PNA)

Abaca exports dip in 2012The countrys abaca exports

dipped to $108 million (M) lastyear, 23 percent less than$140M in 2011.

Administrator Cecile Sorianoof the DAs Fiber Industry De-velopment Authority (FIDA)said this was due to weak de-mand in key markets like theUS and Europe.

Last years exports com-prised of abaca pulp (69% oftotal), worth $74.7M; cordage,$16.2M; fiber crafts, $10.7M;and abaca fabric, $1M.

Soriaso said demand is ex-pected to pick up this year, and

several investors are keen onproducing more abaca by-prod-ucts like tea bags, casing of meatsausages, surgical masks andcigarette paper.

Other new high-value abacaproducts include monoblocchairs, biocomposite and yarnfor making denim.

She said FIDA is facilitating theopening of new markets forabaca fiber and other abacaproducts to offset the weak de-mand from traditional markets.

FIDA has entered into negotia-

tions with buyers from France,Spain, Qatar and Russia for the

supply of fiber twine, rope, matand pulp.

She said FIDA is helpingabaca farmers certify theirfarms and conform with inter-national standards, so theycould sell their products to theworld market.

For this initiative, FIDA is co-ordinating with an internationalcertifying company (Rainforest

Al liance). So riano saidRainforest Alliance-certifiedabaca farms and processingfirms could gain access tomore foreign markets and sell

their products at a higher price.(FIDA)


6/126

Barangay Bongtud is anurban barangay that lies in thenorthwestern part of TandagCity in Surigao del Sur. It has a

total land area of a little over 34hectares and is generallymountainous and rugged intopography. Although it liesfacing the Pacific Ocean , it issheltered from strong typhoons

as it is enclosed the two islandsof Linungao.With a total fishing ground

strengthening up to 200hectares, the community isfamous for its tuna and tuna-

like fish products. It has 400registered fisherfolk, with anestimated volume of catchranging from f ive (5) to ten (10)metric tons per trip dependingon the season.

The Tandag BoholanoFishermen Association or

TANBOFISA, created in 2004,aims to strengthen the tiesamong its members and toincrease their income throughvarious livelihood projects.With twenty initial members, itwas registered with the Depart-ment of Labor and Employment(DOLE) and accredited by theLocal Government of Tandag

pursuant to SB Resolution No.035, Series of 2005.

To augment their income andensure a ready market for their

daily catch, the fishermen whoformed TANBOFISA applied fora Barangay Food TerminalProject of the Department of

Agriculture-Agribusiness andMarketing Assistance Service.

After an extensive evaluation ofthe proposal, the groupsapplication was subsequentlyapproved and TANBOFISA

Food Terminal was launched onthe 27th of November 2008.

Apart from the P30,000-grantas initial working capital, the DAalso provided TANBOFISA

weighing scale, plastic crates,cash register, and otherequipment for their operationand basic management andskills training conducted by theCARAGA field office and theCity Agricultures Office. Inaddition, the City Governmentgave Php130,000 while thefishers association shelledanother Php30,000.00 ascounterpart, used for buildingrenovation and other expenses.

Strategically located at thecrossroad of the barangay halland Tandag Port , theTANBOFISA BFT has a stablemarket, servicing seven (7)

puroks with a total population of5,822 and catering to custom-ers from the nearby elementary

school, the Philippine PortsAuthority and the Coast Guard

offices as well as the ware-house of San Miguel Corpora-tion.

The BFT operates sevendays a week and sells a varietyof agri-fishery products. It hasbecome a one-stop-shop for itscustomers selling basic groceryitems which include cookingingredients and other homesupplies.

According to regular clientRoselyn Nuevas, Lahat ngpang-araw-araw napangangailangan namin nasaBFT na. Hindi na akokailangang pumunta sa bayan,adding that the P16-transporation fare she savesshe is able to use for otherexpenses.

The BFT also contributed tothe increase in income of someof its consumer. LermaRebucca testified, Mula ngmagkaroon ng BFT lumaki angkita ko mula sa Php200 naging

Php400 sa pagtitinda ngbanana cue, kasi mas muraang ingredients na nabibili kosa BFT tapos nakakatipid paako sa pamasahe.

She added that because ofthe BFT she is able to send herchildren to school and earnduring days when her husbandwould return from the seas fish-less.

Other members have startedgrowing vegetables and raisinghogs which they sell to the BFT.

Teodesia Landero said,Nagkaroon kami ng additional

A food terminal for and by fishermen

income kasi binibili ng BFT angmga produkto namin na

nangagaling sa bakuran.To expand the business, the

BFT management, thru a soft

loan from the Agricultural CreditPolicy Council, bought a unit ofdelivery vehicle which they nowuse to transport their productsto nearby barangays. On itsreturn trip, the vehicle is loadedwith newly harvested productsand basic commodities.

The establishment of the BFTbrought many changes in thelives of the TANBOFISAmembers as well as otherresidents living in BarangayBongtud and its neighboringcommunities.

Fisherman Edgar Evangeliorecalls how his family havestruggled to make ends meet.

Noon maliit lang ang mgabangka namin, ngayon malakina. Mahirap ang kalagayannamin noon dahil kontrolado ngfish traders ang presyo ng isdapero ngayon kaya na naming

mag-dikta ng presyo, henarrates.Rolando Salubre confirmed

this and added, Ngayon masmalaki ang kita namin kasi walang ng middleman, kami namismo ang nagbebenta nghuling isda, at higit sa lahatngayon may siguradongkaming pagdadalhan ng huli.

(Editors note: The

TANBOFISA BFT was ad-

judged as an Outstanding BFT

under the NGO-managed

category in the 2012 DARegional Gawad Saka contest.)

By Lea C. Deriquito and Oda D. Rodriguez)


7/12March 2013 7

Surallah, South Cotabato Long queues of indigentruralfolk seeking medicalassistance used to be a

common scenario in theMayors office here, until a localexecutive turned to herbalmedicine as his alternativesolution.

Mayor Romulo Solivio, Sr.believes that prevention is

better than cure, and with hispenchant for organic products,he came-up with an idea for theLGU to produce herbal medi-cine, said municipal midwifeHaydee Ledres.

Dogged by their nobleintention to provide alternativemedicine for their poor and sickconstituents, Surallah officialscreated the Himsug(healthy)Surallah Herbal Laboratoryin2006.

The laboratory which laterexpanded into Centralla

Alternative Medicine ProducersCooperative (CAMPC) hasbeen producing food supple-ments and herbal medicinesderived from the leaves and

fruits of malunggay, mangos-teen, sambong, banaba,turmeric, which processed ineither capsule or powder form.

CAMPC herbal products area lot cheaper than commercialor generic brands, at least halfthe price, making them afford-able.

The CAMPC also provides

free medicine to local indigents,upon orders from the Mayorsoffice.

The production of food

supplements and herbalmedicine did not come easy at

Herbal processing offers cheap organicmedicines to South Cotabato ruralfolk by Noel T. Provido

the start. We have to gothrough the rigors of BFAD(Bureau of Food and Drugs)certification just to ensure that

our products are safe forhuman consumption, saidLedres who is also the CAMPCchairperson.

Stringent requirementsinclude the need to have anenclosed and well-sanitized

processing center to avoidcontamination. Another criticalrequirement is the bacteriologytests wherein they pay P10,000 for each product.

We failed twice on this test

not because of poor hygienebut because of high moisturecontent which makes ourproduct vulnerable to contami-nation, Ledres said adding:

High moisture content wasdue to our conventional way ofdrying our raw materials. Sundrying cannot assure us of theexact moisture and worst duringrainy seasons our ingredientsusually end up contaminatedresulting to a lot of wastage,

she said.To address this concern, they

intend to purchase a mechani-cal dehydrator but unable to do

so due to financial constraints.They sought assistance fromvarious agencies until theywere endorsed to the MindanaoRural Development Program(MRDP).

MRDP is an anti-poverty

program jointly funded by theWorld Bank, national govern-ment and local governmentunits (LGUs). Implementedunder the Department of

Agriculture (DA), the program

provides assistance to LGUsand peoples organization inform of infrastructure andlivelihood projects.

Noting not only their nobleobjectives but also theircapability to handle develop-ment projects, CAMPC wasable to access P500, 000 fromthe Community Fund for

Agricultural Development(CFAD), MRDPs livelihoodcomponent.

The bulk of the funds wehave availed ourselves of wasused to buy the dehydratormachine worth P336, 000 while

the remaining amount was usedto buy glass cabinet makingproducts on display morepresentable, Ledres said.

Whereas the conventionalfacility can only yield for them 2kilos of ingredients a day, the

dehydrator machine enablesthem to produce as much as110 kilos of ingredients a day. Ithas also improved the quality oftheir product and reduced if noteliminated wastage.

With the dehydrator ma-chine, you can set the exacttemperature gauge and get thedesired moisture content andavoid contamination. So whenwe subjected our products toseveral testing we wereeventually granted the seal ofapproval from BFAD, Ledressaid.

The technological advancesresulted in correspondingincrease in daily income forCAMPC from only P1, 500 to as

high as P15, 000 giving theirassociation enough profit tosustain and expand its opera-tions.

Providing alternative incomesThe production of herbal

medicine has also providedalternative income to localfarmers being tapped assuppliers of raw materials.

We only source them (rawmaterials) within the town toensure that they are organi-cally-produced and at the same

time provide additional income

Ledres

(Pls turn to p11)

Haydee Ledres, chairperson of Centralla Alter-native Medicine Producers Cooperative(CAMPC), in Surallah, South Cotabato, showsoff their herbal products. (Photos by Sherwin

Manual)

Ms Ledres shows a dehydrator, which only takes less than a dayto dry organic leaves and other ingredients, which are then pro-cessed into capsules and powder form.

Herbal medicine production provideswomen in Surallah additional incomeof up to P5,000 a month.


8/128

The Department of Agriculturerecently inaugurated a P42-mil-lion (M) corn post harvest pro-cessing and trading center inCaraycayon,Tigaon, CamarinesSur, that will benefit up to 2,000

The provincial government of

Pangasinan recently approvedfor implementation its CornRoad Map for 2011-2016.

The approval of the road map,authored by board member RaulSison, chairman on agriculture,coincided with the celebration ofa corn festival in Sto. Tomas, amajor corn producer inPangasinan.

The corn roadmap, jointly pre-pared by the DA Ilocos RegionalOffice and the provincial govern-ment, serves as a guide andframework in carrying out variousprograms to increase the pro-

P42-M corn processing centerrises up in Cam Sur

farmers, in six corn cluster mu-nicipalities in the province.

DA Assistant Secretary andnational corn program coordina-tor Edilberto M. de Luna, repre-senting Secretary Proceso J.

Alcala, led the inauguration cer-

emonies, on March 18, 2013.The project is a joint under-taking of the Muncipality ofTigaon, which bankrolled thecost of the warehouse, officebuilding, and a 3-phase elec-tric power set-up, totaling P21M,while the DA through the Na-tional Agribusiness Corporation(NABCOR) shouldered thepostharvest machinery andequipment, worth P21.6M.

The facility features the follow-ing components and equipment:a 1,200-square meter ware-house; corn cob dryer with 4

bins, at 50-metric ton (MT) ca-pacity per bin, drying time of 22hours to 30 hours with moisturecontent (MC) of 30% to 20%; 1unit sheller with 16 to 20-MTcapacity per unit, and dryingtime of 4 hrs. and cooling timeof 2 hrs.; 3 units cob furnacewith boiler heat exchanger; 1 unitholding bin, with 30-MT capac-ity; and a conveyor system.

DA Bicol regional directorAbelardo R. Bragas said the fa-cility could reduce post-harvestlosses by 5% equivalent to about

800 kilograms per hectare peryear. It will also ensure avail-ability of corn grains with 14%MC, even during wet seasonharvest; provide additional in-come for farmers of aboutP4,000 per hectare per year;generate employment or directlabor for 13 persons and indirectlabor for some 250 persons.

With the facility, farmers will beassured of high quality corngrains, with less aflatoxin (lessthan 20 parts per billion), thusgood for human and livestockconsumption. Moreover, pro-cessing efforts like shelling anddrying commonly practiced bycorn farmers will be reduced.

The DA Bicol regional cornprogram coordinator and chief ofthe Operations Division EduardoL. Lomerio said the raw materi-als to be used are matured cornon cob (at least 105 days for yel-low corn), with 27% to 30% MC,a minimum of 10 hectares sup-ply areas daily (if yield is 10 tonsof corn on cobs per hectare);dryers are biomass-fuelled usingthe corn cobs and its input re-

quirement of corn on cob at fullcapacity is 100 MT per day. Ef-

Pangasinan okays 2011-2016 corn road mapduction of quality yellow and

white corn varieties inPangasinan.Others involved in the prepa-

ration of the corn road map wereresepctive municipal and city Ag-riculture offices, corn farmers,and other stakeholders of thecorn industry.

The road map includes targets,plans, programs, projects, andactivities that are geared towardsincreasing and sustaining the ag-ricultural productivity of the prov-ince. It also tackles necessaryinterventions in the corn indus-try such as production support,post-harvest facility needs, andextension support services.

The roadmap also discussesefforts aimed at enhancing farm-ers capability like using latestcost-reducing technologies thusincreasing their profit.

Among others, the road mapcalls for cooperation amongstakeholders by sharing humanand agricultural resources for aneffective and eff icient implemen-tation of productivity programsand projects to sustain theprovinces capacity as one of the

leading corn producers in theregion.To implement the corn

roadmap, the provincial govern-ment is committing the servicesof its109 technical staff and ag-ricultural extension workers(AEW), 13 of whom are from thePAO and 96 from various munici-pal and city agriculture offices.

Pangasinan is vying for thetop five corn producing provincesunder the DAs 2013 Corn Qual-ity Award.

It recently won as one of thetop 10 provinces in the recent

2012 Agri-Pinoy Rice AchieversAward. (PNA)

The Department of Agricul-ture will provide additionalsupply of rice and basic fooditems in Tawi-tawi, Sulu andBasilan to satisfy the in-creased demand due to theinflux of returning Filipinosand refugees from Sabah.

Ag ricu lture SecretaryProceso J. Alcala has in-

structed concerned DA offi-cials to ensure a steady sup-ply of rice and other basicfood items in the three prov-inces to prevent a shortageand undue increase in prices.

He instructed AdministratorOrlan Calayag of the DAsNational Food Authority tosustain the delivery of rice, incoordination with the Depart-ment of Social Welfare andDevelopment (DSWD) andrespective local governmentsunits (LGUs).

Sec. Alcala also instructedthe DA regional directors inMindanao to send additionalsupply of cassava, which alsoserves as a major staple, toTawi-tawi and Sulu.

In a report to Sec. Alcala,Calayag said the NFA as ofMarch 9, has delivered an ini-tial 2,200 bags (of 50 kiloseach) to Tawi-tawi and Sulu(at 1,000 bags each), and200 bags in Zamboanga City.The DSWD has exclusivelyallotted the NFA rice for Fili-pino returnees from Sabah.

The NFA is shipping 180 to250 bags of rice, two to threetimes a week, to Sulu andTawi-Tawi, and the NFA re-gional office in Davao isready to ship 50,000 bags toboth provinces, Calayag said.

Other NFA regional offices,particularly in Metro Manila(NCR) and Region 6 (West-ern Visayas), are also set tosend additional rice stocks toZamboanga for delivery tothe countrys three southern-most provinces, and cater to

the needs of Filipinos return-ing from Sabah.

DA-NFA ensuresrice, food supplyin Tawi-tawi, Sulu

DA Asst. Secretary and national corn program coordinatorEdilberto de Luna switches on the Caraycayon corn processing fa-cility, in Tigaon, Camarines Sur. Looking on is DA-Bicol regionaldirector Abelardo Bragas.

(Pls turn to p10)

fective system recovery is 55%to 60%.

The facility is strategically lo-cated at the center of the cornareas of the Partido district, cov-ering the towns of Tigaon,Sangay, Goa, San Jose,Lagonoy and Ocampo, with atotal corn area of about 4,000hectares. It will serve as themajor hub or center for buying(corn on cobs); trading and pro-cessing activities like cob drying,

shelling and grains drying,sales tax will also accrue to themunicipality of Tigaon.

The inauguration ceremoniesalso coincided with the holdingof the regional corn congress atthe same venue

Joining Asst Sec de Luna andDir. Bragas were Representative

Arnulfo P. Fuentebella (CamSur, 4th District), Tigaon Mayor

Arnulf Bryan B. Fuentebella;former Bicol DA regional direc-tor and now special assistant tothe secretary Dr. Jose V. Dayao;DAR regional director, Atty.


9/12March 2013 9

The Department of AgricultureBicol Region observed WomensMonth, in recognition of the im-portant role and contribution ofBicolanasnot only in rearingtheir families but also in nation-building.

The event, co-sponsored bythe DA Lady Employees Assn.,focused on the theme:

The Department of Agricultureenjoins local chief executives,agriculturists, farm techniciansand farmers to join thegovernments campaign againstsmuggled rice, as it distorts fairtrade, depresses prices of palay,and discourages farmers to plantrice.

Malaking pinsala ang smug-gling sa ating industriya ngbigas. Pinapatay nito ang patasna kalakaran na nagbubunga dinng pagbaba ng presyo ng atingmga palay. Nahihirapan atnawawalan ng gana tuloy angating mga magsasaka,said Ag-riculture Secretary Proceso J.

Alcala, during the 2ndAgri-PinoyRice Achievers Awards,March15, 2013, at the Philippine Inter-national Convention Center, inPasay City.

This is the reason why the

Aquino government is exertingefforts to clamp down on ricesmuggling, which is a form ofeconomic sabotage, the DA chiefnoted.

He thus called on all rice in-dustry players and the generalpublic to take part in a renewedcampaign against rice smug-gling, particularly so that thecountry is set to attain rice suffi-ciency this year.

Makibahagi sana tayo nalabanan ang ganitong mgagawain, lalo pa at nasa kamayna natin ang ating minimithingkasapatan sa bigas ngayongtaon,Secretary Alcala added.

Last month (February 22,2013), a covenant against smug-gling was forged by rice industryplayers in Luzon composed offarmer-leaders, rice millers, trad-ers, and retailers, witnessed bySecretary Alcala and NationalFood Authority (NFA) administra-tor Orlan Calayag.

This year, the country will stillimport rice to serve as buffer

DA wages campaign vs rice smugglingstock, at 187,000 metric tons,said Secretary Alcala. It is partof the 350,000 MT, which is theminimum volume of rice importsallowed by the Philippines underan agreement with other mem-ber-countries of the World TradeOrganization (WTO).

The Philippines has greatly

reduced its rice imports froma high of 2.45 million MT in 2010,860,000 MT in 2011, and500,000 MT last year as the

Aquino government has suc-cessfully increased production ofpalay (unmilled rice) as a resultof increasing infrastructure in-vestments and annual DA bud-get.

National palay harvest hassteadily grew from 15.77 millionMT in 2010, to 16.68 million MTin 2011, and 18.03 million MTlast year. The DA targets to pro-duce more than 20 million tonsthis year, equivalent to 100 per-cent sufficiency

In his speech during the 2nd

Ag ri -P inoy Rice Ac hieversAwards, the DA chief also urgedfarmers, local officials and riceindustry players to sustain andstrengthen efforts to export pre-mium, aromatic rice.

Further, he asked farmers tofurther reduce the cost of produc-ing palay with the use of qualityseeds, modern yet sustainable

inputs and technologies, andpostharvest facilities.

This will enable them to com-pete with their counterparts inThailand, Vietnam and othersouth east Asian countries, oncethe ASEAN Free Trade Agree-ment (AFTA) commences in

2015.Finally, he asked the partici-pants and the general public tobe responsible rice consumers,and consider eating otherstaples like white corn, cassava,sweet potato and saba whichis part of the National Year ofRice advocacy campaign.(Marlo Asis)

The provincial government ofLeyte launched the NationalYear of Rice or NYR with aninfo caravan, at Ormoc City

Hall, on March 20, 2013, high-lighted by the unveiling of thethe NYR logo. The launch wasled by Ormoc City Mayor EricC. Codilla (middle), DA8 re-

gi on al ri ce pr og ra mcoordinatorRufino B. Ayaso

III , other DA8 and Ormocofficials, and resource persons

from various partner agencies.(DA-RAFID8)

DA-Bicol observes womens monthKababaihan gabay sa pagtahaksa tuwid na daan. It was held atthe DA regional office in PIli,Camarines Sur, March 18, 2013.

DA-RFU5 technical director foroperations Ellen de los Santossaid the activity gives importanceto women not only as mothersor housewives, but also as rolemodels in society.

She said women are now em-powered, and given the chanceto be leaders. They are nowaware and fight for their rightsand privileges, contirbuting theirshare in making our society apeaceful and worth living for.

Atty. Leni Robredo, wife of thelate DILG Secretary JesseRobredo, was the events guestspeaker. She discussed theKasambahay Lawor RA 10361.

She said a person or a familyis judged on how well they treatother people, specially thekasambahayor househelp.

If a family treats thekasambahay justly, he or sheworks well and stays longer withthe family, and he or she be-comes part of the family.

Robredo said it is also impor-tant to be familiar with theKasambahay Law to know therights and privileges of akasambahay, like being allowedto have a day-off, given a 13th

month pay, and an SSS insur-ance.

Other topics discussed duringthe celebration are: Womensrole in fighting corruption and liv-ing a life of integrity by EmilyBordado, chief of RAFID and theresident Ombudsman of DA;Personality development for ca-reer women by Mr. Anjo Santos,owner of Megapolis Events Com-pany. (Mabelle Ilan, DA-RAFID5)

Atty. Leni Robredo, wife of the late DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo,

served as guest of honor at DA-Bicol Womens Day celebration,where she talked on womens rights and the Kasambahay Law.


10/1210

DA allots ... (from p1)

Further, the UST team notedthat 13% of the VCO takers saidthey became sexually active dur-ing the four-month study.

On the other hand, negativeside effects experienced by theparticipants in VCO group in-cluded soft bowel, stomach ache,

sweating and nausea.The clinical study, commis-sioned by PCA, is the largestmade on VCO, as it involved 189participants. It gave scientificbases to the testimonies andclaims on the effect of VCO in thelevel of total cholesterol, in hu-man beings. (Coconut Media Ser-vice)

VCO increases ...(from p3)

Philippines competitive in riceproduction, processing and mar-keting, and in preparation for the

regional economic integrationunder the ASEAN EconomicCommunity (AEC) in 2015.

The study will also consider ef-fects of climate change on thecountrys rice industry, and howto surmount said challenge.

Makikiisa tayo sa paggawa ngbaseline study sa industriya ngbigas, kabilang ng ating mgakaratig bansa sa ASEAN.

Layunin nating magkaroon ngmas malalim na kaalaman lalo

pa at inaa sa han na ti ngmabubuksan ang merkado ng

As ya sa ib a t ib ang ur i ng

pagkain sa darating na 2015 sailalim ng ASEAN Economic Com-munity (AEC),the DA chief toldover 1,000 participants at the 2nd

Ag ri Pinoy Rice Achiever sAwards, March 15, 2013, at the

Philippine International Conven-

tion Center in Pasay City.The AEC adopted duringthe 13th Association of SouthEast Asian Nations (ASEAN)Summit, in November 2007, inSingapore envisions a singlemarket and production base, acompetitive region with equitableeconomic development, and in-tegrated into the globaleconomy, according to the

ASEAN website.The AEC aims to transform

ASEAN into a region with freemovement of goods, services,investment, skilled labor, andfreer flow of capital.

Secretary Alcala said freetrade among ASEAN countries in2015 would definitely impact onlocal production, marketing, anddistribution, and affect farmers

income. Hence, it is imperative

to conduct the study, and it isprudent to be prepared, henoted.

Patuloy ang mga pag-aaral saepekto nito sa ating ekonomiya,ngunit mabuti na ang magingmaagap,he said.

For his part, DA Assistant Sec-retary and National Rice Pro-gram Coordinator Dante S.Delima said the benchmarkstudy will be conducted jointly bythe DAs Philippine Rice Re-search Institute (PhilRice) andInternational Rice Research In-stitute (IRRI).

Funded by the DA national riceprogram, the study covers thePhilippines, Indonesia, Thailand,Vietnam, India, and China.

It will also determine variousgovernment policies that affectcompetitiveness in rice produc-tion and marketing of commer-cial and hybrid rice varieties.

Delima said the study is impor-tant especially in light of Presi-dent Benigno S. Aquinos recentpronouncement that agriculture,along with tourism and infrastruc-ture, is among the top prioritysectors to attract foreign invest-ments. (Adam Borja, DA National RiceProgram)

She said the countrys onionindustry suffered a slump in the1990s due to entry of cheapersmuggled onions, easing out lo-cal onions in the market.

With the revival of onion ex-ports, more farmers in NuevaEcija, Nueva Vizcaya, Occiden-

tal Mindoro and other provinceswould be encouraged to plantyellow granex and earn more in-come, Gozon said.

Last year, the country pro-duced 124,830 metric tons (MT)of onions, worth P3.9 billion incurrent prices. Of this volume,yellow onions comprised 15%,red onions (55%) and shallots(30%), Gozon said.

Leah Cruz, chairperson of theNational Onion Action Team, saidFilipino farmers should producethe right quality and size of on-ions to penetrate and create a

niche, not only in the Japanesemarket, but also in other possibleexport destinations.

HVCDP director Jennifer E.Remoquillo said the DA will con-tinue to provide needed supportto further prop up and make thecountrys onion industry globallycompetitive, in partnership withNogrocoma, other onion farmersgroups, and other concerned DAagencies.

These include providing farm-ers with quality planting materi-als and other farm inputs and

equipment, onion hanger stor-age facilities, marketing assis-tance, conduct of appropriateand location-specific re-searches, and establishmenttechno-demonstration farms toshowcase different onion variet-ies, among other interventions.(DA-AFIS & HVCDP)

Phil eyes onion ... (fromp 3)

Ciao agricoltura.Secretary Alcala and Italian AmbassadorMassimo Roscigno share a light moment during the latters visit,March 18, 2013, at the DA national office in Quezon City. Theydiscussed possible partnerships to uplift the economic standards ofsmall farmers, fishers and ruralfolk, particularly in Mindanao.

RP-Iraq sugar trade in the works. Secretary Alcala and IraqiAmbassador Wadee Batti Hanna Al-Batti discuss possible tradepartnership on sugar, long grain aromatic organic rice and otheragricultural products, during a courtesy visit at the DA nationaloffice in Quezon City. Ambassador Al-Batti has expressed interestin buying Philippine sugar. Secretary Alcala, on the other hand,

said the country welcomes Iraqi investors interested in farm mecha-nization and food processing facilities.

Maria Celestina Manlangit-Tam;NFA regional director Alan Borja;Rochelle Ballesteros, NABCORplant manager for Luzon; munici-pal agriculturists and techniciansfrom other corn clusters; otherDA regional officials and repre-sentatives from various agro-chemical corporations whichalso had their product presen-tations.(Emily B. Bordado, DA 5Info Div. Chief)

P42-M corn processingcenter ... (from p8)

Fishery sector faces ...(from p 1)

imposition of a no fishing sea-son in waters off Mindanao andVisayas.

The DA-BFARin partnershipwith commercial and municipalfishermen, local governmentunits, and other concerned agen-cieshas initially imposed aclosed fishing season inZamboanga Peninsula from De-cember 1, 2011 to February 28,2012, coinciding with the sar-dines spawning season. Thearea covered East Sulu Sea,Basilan Strait and Sibuguey Bay.

As a result , Dir. Perez saidcatch of sardines has initially in-creased by 6% to 156,150 MT in2012 versus 146,835 MT in2011, according to the DA-BAS.

(Pls turn to p11)


11/1211March 2013

Fishery sector faces ...(from p10)

With this favorable result, theDA-BFAR was once again im-posed a three-month no fishingseason in water off ZamboangaPeninsula.

We have also imposed a simi-lar closed fishing season in theVisayan Seas, said Secretary

Alcala. The ban started in No-vember 15, 2012 and endedMarch 15, 2013.

BFAR assistant directorDrucila Esther Bayate said a nofishing season on said monthsin the Visayan Sea has been inexistence since 1989, but it wasonly this year that the policy wasvigorously implemented with thefull cooperation of all commercialfishing operators, LGUs, Philip-pine Coast Guard and otherstakeholders.

She said the Visayan Seas isa major source of sardines, her-rings and mackerels..

This early, the DA-BFAR saidtamban is now caught abun-dantly caught in Ragay Gulf, inCamarines Sur.

With the initial success inZamboanga and Visayan Seas,Secretary Alcala said the DA-BFAR is considering other ma-

jor fishing grounds like Palawan,where a no f ishing season couldbe imposed to induce spawningof fish species like round scador galunggong. (DA InformationService)

to our farmers, Ledres said.She said for malunggay

alone, a group farmer supplierearns P500 a week while forluyang dilaw or turmeric; theyearn P1, 000 a week with adelivery of 2 sacks or 100 kilosat P10 per kilo.

CAMPC operations alsoprovided livelihood to ruralwomen particularly the volun-teered barangay health workers(BHWs) in the area. Ledressaid eight BHWs are currentlyemployed in packaging ofherbal capsules.

The packaging of capsuleswas intended to be donemanually to give our BHWsadditional income as they onlyreceive P1, 000 per month asvolunteers incentives, she

said.I am thankful to CAMPC for

giving us the opportunity tohave an alternative income. Asone of the skilled packers I earnat least P3, 000 P5, 000.This helps me a lot in meetingour daily household needs,said Armela Tuason, one of theco-op employees

We have undergone trainingon capsule preparation as itrequires proper packaging skillsotherwise the output will notmeet its desired form. With the

Herbal processing ...(from p7)

adequate facility [dehydrator]our group can now pack at least10,000 capsules a day, shesaid.

Right now there are onlyeight regularly employees in thelaboratory but Ledres said oncethey expand their operations

the co-op mulls on accommo-dating more BHWs through arotation basis.

Ledres has enough reason tobe optimistic as more and morecustomers are patronizing theirproducts. What used to be analternative and preventive cureto local indigents is now gainingprominence from various partsof Mindanao.

They now have distributors inBukidnon and Lanao del Surwhile one tertiary hospital inDavao City regularly places

The National Irrigation Admin-istration (NIA) has allotted thisyear P1.9 billion for 151 irriga-tion projects in Cagayan Valley(Region 2).

NIA Region 2 director VicenteGalvez said it will be spent for

the construction of new irrigationsystems, and restoration and re-habilitation of existing ones.

Once completed, the new sys-tems will irrigate new areas, to-

NIA allots P1.9B for irrign projectsin Cagayan Valley

taling 5,449 hectares, restoredfacilities will irrigate 3,654 hect-ares, and rehabilitated canalswill irrigate 19,639 hectares -- fora total of more than 28,700 hect-ares.

In all, the irrigation projects in

Cagayan Valley will help theAquino governments goal of at-taining rice sufficiency by end of2013, Galvez said. (PNA)

order to supply its traditionalmedicine department.

Although promotions of theirproducts are just plainly onword-of-mouth, Ledres saidcustomers riding on luxury carsfrom adjacent provinces keepon coming.

This only shows that qualityof our products is now gainingprominence and consumerstrust. Were it not for the supportof DA-MRDP we could not havegone this far, she said.

When asked whether thequeue of people asking formedical assistance is still ausual sight in the Mayorsoffice, Ledres is quipped toreply that it has dramaticallyreduced, as CAMPC is nowproviding them healthy andaffordable options.


12/12

Kaisa ng sambayanang Pilipino, binabati ko ngbuong galak ang mga gagawaran sa Agri-PinoyRice Achievers Awards,na pinangungunahan ngKagawaran ng Pagsasaka.

Ang seguridad sa pagk ain ay sand igan ngkalayaan sa gutom; isa ito sa mga pangunahingkarapatang pantao. Nagsasama-sama tayoupang makamit itong minimithing kasapatan ng

pagkain, mapigilan ang pag-aksaya, at maparamipa ang pagpipiliang bilihin ng ating mamayan.

Ngayong Pambansang Taon ng Bigas,hinihirang ko kayong mga gagantimpalaan sa

pagtitipong ito: Ipagpatuloy ninyo ang pagigingmasugid na tagapagtanggol ng ating taumbayan, nang higit pa nating mapalapit

ang Pilipinas sa katuparan ng ating mga pangarap.Pagkatapos ng mahigit dawalat kalahating taon ng pagpupunla ng reporma sa

ating mga institusyon, umuusbong na ang mga unang bunga ng ating pagsisikap.Sa pamamagitan ng lakas ng ating mga bisig at tibay ng ating mga puso, at

habang tinatahak ang tuwid na landas, tiyak na ang ating mga adhikain aymakakamtan, at maipapamana sa mga susunod na salinlahi ng Pilipinas.

Benigno S. Aquino IIIPangulo, Republika ng Pilipinas

Malugod kong binabati ang mga magsasaka, exten-sion worker, Irrigators Association at pamahalaang lokalna nahirang na Agri-Pinoy Rice Achievers ng 2012.

Nang inilunsad natin ang Agri-Pinoy at ang FoodStaples Sufficiency Program (FSSP) dalawang taon na angnakaraan, nanindigan tayo na ang minimithi natingkasapatan at seguridad sa pagkain ay makakamitlamang kung ang pangkalahatang programa natin saagrikultura ay tunay na holistiko.

Ibig sabihin nitoy ang FSSP ay: (1) sumasaklaw sabuong value chain, o mula bukid hanggang hapag-kainan; (2) batay sa sustenableng sistema ng pagsasaka;(3) magbibigay kaalaman at kapangyarihan sa mgamagsasaka laban sa mga problemang kinakaharap nila,mula kapitalisasyon hanggang kalakalan at climate change; at (4) lalahukan atmagbibigay pakinabang sa lahat ng stakeholders sa agrikultura mga samahanng malaki at maliit na magsasaka, teknisyan, lokal na pamahalaan, NGO, at ibang

pang mga katuwang ng Kagawaran ng Pagsasaka.Kaya kamiy lubos na nagpapasalamat sa inyong pakikilahok dahil, ngayong

naging napakaganda ng ating ani nang 2012 at abot-tanaw na ang ating pangarapna kasapatan sa bigas, napatunayan nating sa pamamagitan ng pagkakaisa aykaya nating gawing posible ang akala nating imposible.

Bilang Agri-Pinoy Rice Achievers ng 2012, kayo ang nagbibigay mukha sa lahatng ating pagpupunyagi na mapalaki ang produksyon at maiwasan ang aksaya tungosa kasapatan ng bigas at iba pang batayang pagkain.

Ngayong 2013 bilang National Year of Rice lalong lumalaki ang papel nainyong ginagampanan bilang unang hanay ng ating hukbo sa pakikidigma labansa kahirapan sa kanayunan at makamit ang pambansang kasapatan sa bigas at

pangunahing pagkain.Sa pamamagitan ng inyong sipag at pakikipagtulungan sa ating pamahalaan,

naway magkamit pa kayo ng maraming tagumpay at patuloy na magsilbinginspirasyon ng ating mga magsasaka at kababayan sa kanilang pakikilahok at pag-unlad.

Proceso J. Alcala

Kalihim, Kagawaran ng Pagsasaka

Rang-ay Pussian Farmers Cooperative - Alcala, Cagayan (Reg2) Gen Malvar Irrigators MPC - Pontevedra, Negros Occidental (Reg6)

Libasan Primary MPC - Nabunturan, Compostela Valley (Reg11)

Outstanding Small Water Impounding System Farmers Association (SWISA)

2012 Rice Achievers Awards(Parangal sa mga Bosing ng Palayan)

Nueva Ecija: Talavera, Guimba, Gen. Tinio, Llanera, Sta. Rosa, Sto. Domingo, Cuyapo and Lupao;Isabela: Alicia, Cauayan, San Mateo and Roxas;

Pangasinan: Manaoag and Sta Maria; San Rafael,Bulacan; Nueva Vizcaya Aritao and Solano; Tabuk City, Kalinga; La Union: Bacnotan, San Juan and Sudipen;

Pila,Laguna; Mindoro Occidental: Rizal, Sablayan and Calapan City; Albay: Polangui and Oas; Irosin,Sorsogon; Sibalom, Antique; Kalibo, Aklan; Dumalag, Capiz;

Iloilo: Pototan and San Miguel; Kabangkalan, Negros Occidental; Pilar, Bohol; Biliran: Almeria, Culaba and Naval; Opol,Misamis Oriental; Lambayong, Sultan Kudarat;

Kapatagan,Lanao Norte; Matanao,Davao del Sur; North Cotabato: Kabacan, Midsayap and Tulunan; Trento,Agusan Sur; Zamboanga d el Sur: Bayog and Mahayag.

National Irr igation Systems (NIS): Balisong, San Vicente IA (Reg11) Upper Sinayawan Farmers IA (Reg11) Paselomak IA (Reg6) Paitan IA (Reg10)

Ubbog Ti Biag IA, UPRIIS (Reg3) Gloria sa Bagong Milenyo IA, UPRIIS (Reg3)Communal Irrigation Systems (CIS): San Agustin Ruparan BDIA (Reg11) Katipunan Semong IA (Reg11) Timbaboy Poblacion B IA (Reg9)

Tumbaga 1 Bucal IA (Reg4A) Alubijid-Loguilo ISA (Reg10 Awao CIA (Reg11)Special Awardees: NIS: Lidanama IA and Amyon IA (both from Reg12); and Webamsi IA (Reg13)

Top 48 Cities/Municipalities

Top Irrigators Associations

Nueva Ecija, Isabela, Pangasinan, Bulacan, Nueva Vizcaya,Kalinga, La Union, Zamboanga del Sur, Davao del Sur, andCompostela Valley

Top 10 Provinces

Aggie Trends March 2013 Issue

Documents

Transcript of Aggie Trends March 2013 Issue