DA Caraga Aims to Increase Cassava Production

Butuan City – The Department of Agriculture Caraga Regional Office is eyeing to increase cassava production in the region to catch up increasing demand for food, feed and other industrial uses.

During the Cassava Stakeholders Meeting held in DA Conference Hall recently, OIC Regional Executive Director Edna Mabeza urged AgriPinoy Corn Coordinator Abel Wagas and other stakeholders to look for ways to increase yield in cassava.

She said that cassava is now part of the food staples pushed nowadays under the Food Self Sufficiency Program (FSSP).

“Let us look for ways how we can develop cassava in Caraga due to its high demand”, she said.

Mabeza hinted that one way of developing cassava in the region is through possible contract growing with private companies.

San Miguel Corporation who attended during the meeting revealed that they have huge demand of cassava as ingredients for feeds and other industrial products. 

Based on projected cassava demand in the country from 2012 to 1217, the current year has a demand of 2.6 million metric ton to 4 million metric ton. 

Caraga Region ranks 11 in the list of cassava producers in the country for 2011 according to Bureau of Agricultural Statistics data.

Identified steps to increase cassava production include awareness campaigns, capability building trainings for cassava coordinators as well as farmers, seed distribution, other agricultural inputs and post harvest facilities, and more timely and relevant interventions.

For clearer direction, RED Mabeza asked LGU program coordinators to come up with a five year cassava roadmap.  

Abel Wagas clarified that cassava is under the AgriPinoy Corn Program due to its usage as for food and for feed same as with corn. (Aurell P. Arais/RAFID DA CARAGA)

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Surigao City Agri and Fishery Council and 3 others Vies for 2012 GAWAD SAKA Search for Outstanding AFC

The four national evaluators of Gawad Saka 2012

Surigao City – If given the chance to win, the City Agriculture and Fishery Council (CAFC) of the City of Surigao will be the first Mindanaon CAFC to be crowned as the Outstanding AFC in the country.

 

That if Surigao CAFC will successfully outsmart the three other finalists for the 2012 Gawad Saka Search for Outstanding Agriculture and Fishery Achievers for municipal and city AFC category.

Last July 30 to August 2, 2012, four members of the national technical committee arrived in Surigao City, Surigao del Norte to evaluate and look into notable accomplishments of the CAFC of Surigao thru the leadership of its Chairperson Perfecto Lisondra that may bring them one step ahead of the other contenders vying for the prestigious award.

The four national evaluators were Cristina Parado of the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics; Marilu Peralta, NAFC Area Coordinator for Caraga Region; Rosylyn Punongbayan of Livestock Development Council and Cyril Soliaban, NAFC Executive Assistant. They were accompanied and assisted by the DA Caraga Team headed by OIC Regional Executive Director Edna Mabeza.

Major criteria for judging were based on Organizational Structure, Regular Activities for the past two years covering 2010 to 2011 and Sustainability.

The other three finalists were Municipal Agriculture and Fishery Council (MAFC) of La Trinidad, Benguet; MAFC of Villa Verde, Nueva Viscaya; and MAFC of Siblayan, Occidental Mindoro.

It was learned from Cyril Soliaban that winners will received P200,000.00 worth of projects and P50,000.00 cash prize while its LGU coordinator will received P25,000.00 cash.

Awarding will be done tentatively on October 16 or 17, 2012 in Malacañan Palace in time with the celebration of the World Food Day and National AFC Anniversary.

Undertaken thru the National Agriculture and Fishery Council  (NAFC), the Gawad Saka Search for Outstanding Agriculture and Fishery Achievers basically aim to give incentives and recognize the group or individuals who excel in their field and served as role model in the agricultural sector. (Aurell P. Arais/RAFID DA-CARAGA)

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DA RFU-13 Welcomes PMAS in Caraga

DA- RFU 13 OIC Regional Executive Director Edna Mabeza lauded BAS of bringing PMAS in Caraga

Butuan City - What if farmer could be taught on how to read and analyze data, could it help them uplift their lives?

 

This could be answered soon as the province of Agusan del Norte is chosen as one of the pilot areas for Production, Marketing Analysis and Service (PMAS) to be initiated by the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (DA-BAS).

As outset of PMAS in Caraga, an orientation was conducted for government offices and marketing facilitators held at DA conference hall recently.

Presenting the concepts and process of PMAS was the Section Chief of the Marketing Studies and Dissemination Alegria Mota of the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics Central Office.

She said that under PMAS there are initially three sites to be identified within Agusan del Norte province with selected farmer group leaders as recipients.

Mota said “PMAS is an empowerment tool for small farmers’ association/organization through the use of production & marketing information to be able to improve their bargaining power and to reduce risks in production and marketing their produce”.

Each quarter, DA-BAS together with counterparts from local government units will conduct consultation to discuss production and marketing data using the package of information called StatGuide for Farmers.

Statguide for Farmers contains Production, Area and Yield Statistics on site specific commodities, Per capita consumption, Foreign Trade statistics (exports and imports), Marketing Channels, Geographic Flow, Harvesting and trading months, Prices (farm, wholesale, retail), Seasonal indices (farm, wholesale and retail), Commodity description or specification, Climatic updates and other production and marketing related information such as market profile, technical and cultural management and more.

During consultation session, farmer leaders are expected to learn to appreciate marketing data and analysis and in the process encourage them to teach also their co-farmers thereby making them as farmer-trainers.

Through PMAS farmers could come up with a sound decision what to plant, when to plant and where to market their produce.

As of press time, there are twelve provinces in the country identified under the program.

Recognizing the importance of the project, OIC Regional Executive Director Edna Mabeza welcomed PMAS in Caraga and expressed support.

“It has good purpose, so why not give it a try, let’s support it”, Mabeza said. (Aurell P. Arais/RAFID DA CARAGA).

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219 Farmers in Agusan del Sur Graduates in School on the Air on Upland Rice Production

Agusan del Sur Governor Adolph Edward Plaza guest speaker during the graduation

Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur - After four months of assiduously listening, a total of 219 upland farmers finally graduated from School on the Air (SOA) on Upland Rice Production, an intensive course aired through radio station DXDA in Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur.

Anchored by Agusan del Sur Farmcaster Jasmine Reyes, the said SOA on Upland Rice Production was a collaborative project of the Department of Agriculture Regional Field Unit 13, Provincial Agriculture Office and Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) Agusan Experiment Station.

The 219 farmer graduates flocked in the covered court of Gov. D.O. Plaza Government Center in Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur last May 31, 2012 for the graduation ceremony which were graced by Governor Adolph Edward Plaza, OIC Provincial Agriculturist Joriz Elevazo and Regional Information Officer Rebecca  Atega.

Elevazo presented the farmer graduates and was conferred by Rebecca Atega representing OIC Regional Executive Director Edna Mabeza.

Of 219 farmers graduates 23 were coming from San Luis, 53 from Prosperidad, 17 from Bunawan, 6 from Talocogon, 59 from La Paz and the most number of graduates were coming from Loreto with 61 farmers.

Atega said that upland farmers played a big role in the campaign of the government to attain food sufficiency in the country.

She urged the graduates to apply what they had learned from listening the School on the Air which featured various topics with expert resource persons coming from PhilRice and Agusan del Sur Provincial Agriculture Office.

Meanwhile to boost upland farming in the province, Governor Plaza announced that the provincial government of Agusan del Sur will provide start-up seeds support through the Provincial Agriculture Office.

He also urged the farmers not just to plant rice alone but also vegetables particularly high value vegetables commonly called chopsuey vegetables such as carrot, broccoli, lettuce and more which he said has higher price in the market.

He envisioned that Agusan del Sur will be a producer of high value vegetables to increase income of the farmers particularly in high land areas such as in La Paz and Loreto. (Aurell P. Arais/RAFID DA CARAGA)

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