Attaining food sufficiency
level in the country within his stewardship as agriculture secretary is the
greatest accomplishment that Secretary Proceso J. Alcala is dreaming of.
This he revealed during the news
conference with the local media in Tandag City, Surigao del Sur during his
visit in Caraga Region recently.
“Ang pinakamalaki pong
significant na program ay talaga pong if we reach the self sufficiency level,
ito ay napakalaki pong accomplishment”, thus he said.
According to him he
considered attaining food sufficiency as the biggest accomplishment not just
for himself but for the whole country as well.
He said that for the long
period of time, Philippines have not been sufficient in rice.
Historically, on later part
of 1970’s Philippines had been sufficient in rice during the leadership of
former Secretary Arturo Tanco, Jr. through the Masagana 99 rice production
program and even went into exporting rice.
A similar program on corn
also made the country self-sufficient in white corn.
In 1990 during the time of
Secretary Senen Bacani, he implemented the Rice Action Program (RAP) and Corn
Production Enhancement Program (CPEP) enabling the Philippines to once again
export rice in 1992 and attained self-sufficiency in corn, respectively.
However, Alcala said those
achievements were not sustained.
“Kaya ngayon naging maingat
tayo na if we will reach self-sufficiency ng ating palay production ito po’y
hindi na aatras kundi ito’y tuloy-tuloy (That is why nowadays,if we will reach
self-sufficiency of our rice production it will not detour but will head on),
he said.
Alcala further said that
currently they are making plans and projections on how to export excess rice
after 2013.
In recognizing the potential
of the province of Surigao del Sur to contribute to the attainment of
sufficiency target, Secretary Alcala suggested to come up a master development
plan for the whole province on agricultural sector that would focus on what
commodities could be aggressively pushed.
Moreover, he said the
agriculture department would push for the modernization of farm equipments not
only on irrigation but for other necessary farm implements.
He also urged farmers and
irrigators association to strengthen since government assistance would be
coursed through them to make them more empowered.
As he stated, organized and
strong farmers and irrigators association could be assisted through the
provision of mechanical dryers and rice mill.
He also urged agriculture
stakeholders to include idle lands and marine resources in boosting food
production so as to contribute more to the attainment of food sufficiency not
just on rice but also other staple foods
for the Filipinos. (AURELL P. ARAIS/RAFID DA CARAGA)
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