Agriculture

BEYOND ELLIPTICALBy Rose Marie de la Cruz Now that the government is finally resolute in aiding farmers via a support price mechanism for palay (unhusked rice), establishing a sustainable– not a band-aid type support price– is necessary to ensure continued support to our beleaguered farmers. Most global rice producers have been supporting, through subsidies, their rice farmers. Not only that, …

The Departments of Agriculture and Public Works and Highways are starting this week their joint audit of farm-to-market roads by summoning three contractors involved in the unfinished FMRs in Davao.  The DA regional field office flagged these projects that were supposed to be completed in 2021. “One road was really nowhere to be found, while the other still had freshly …

From just producing sugarcane before, 60 farmers in Bacolod, Negros Occidental have  diversified with the help of a water project of the Coca Cola Foundation and AIDFI, a non profit social enterprise.  These farmers now plant vegetables and other crops also. Danilo Medina, a Bacolod farmer who used to depend solely on sugarcane, hasbenefitted from the water project of the …

By Rose de la Cruz For the longest time it has been common knowledge that smuggling has been thriving because Chinese suppliers have been paying government officials to turn a blind eye on their operations. Through the years, the operations have evolved from clandestine to outright open smuggling. It was not surprising that in the recent hearing at the Senate by …

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. urged rice retailers to follow the maximum suggested retail price of rice (MSRP) of P43 per kilogram or prepare to be given show cause orders, or warnings, for why they violate the government-mandated price ceilings for the staple. DA Assistant Secretary Genevieve Velicaria-Guevarra said the department is sending shortly warning letters to four Metro …

To help small municipal fishermen against more sophisticated commercial fishing boat, the Makabayan bloc of lawmakers have filed the Atin ang Kinse Kilometro bill. Called Atin ang Kinse Kilometro (15 Kilometers is Ours), the bill seeks to “uphold sustainable fishing practices over destructive and environmentally harmful commercial fishing operations.” The Makabayan solons who filed the bill are Kabataan Representative Renee Co, …

BEYOND ELLIPTICALBy Rose Marie de la Cruz In setting a floor or ceiling price for palay and rice, government must adopt flexibility just like its price setting exercises in tobacco and minimum wages.  Rigid floor price and ceilings would only distort the market and result in the disappearance of commodities, worse bring them to black market operations. This was the advice …

Although CARMEN’S BEST ice creams are pricey for the ordinary consumer, still Filipinos patronize it for both quality and the fact that it is a local brand. Not only will the company diversify its product line – from ice creams to cheeses – it will also bring its products to Mindanao, where it plans to put up a facility. It wants to bring its products …

BEYOND ELLIPTICALBy Rose Marie de la Cruz The Rice Tariffication Law (RA 1123) enacted on March 5, 2019 to replace quantitative restrictions on rice imports to liberalize trade, reduce rice prices (which did not happen) and enhance the competitiveness of local rice farmers, has gaping holes that made life more miserable to farmers and consumers alike. As Prof. Ted C. …

By Rose de la Cruz Farm to market roads are vital for farmers to bring their produce to the market and for suppliers of farm inputs and seeds to sell their inputs to farmers. Without FMRs, the cost of bringing food supplies and farm inputs to their intended markets would be exorbitantly high and prohibitive for suppliers, traders, consumers and …