Export group seeks ban on conversion of farms

A food export leader has called on the Arroyo government to take the current crisis as a platform to institute lasting reforms in the farm sector, the first of which is a permanent ban on the conversion of irrigated and prime agriculture lands to non-agricultural uses.

The call was made by Roberto Amores, president of the Philippine Food Exporters and Processors Organization (Philfoodex), the umbrella organization of food exporters, during the National Employers Conference held at the Manila Hotel, Thursday.

He pointed out that food export is the least vulnerable to the present recession, as buyers do not sacrifice their food purchases. A comprehensive reform and development program in the sector could cushion the impact of the double-digit retreat of other industries.

“The ban should not just be a moratorium but a permanent one to ensure that the country will attain food security and self-sufficiency,” the Philfoodex head said.

In the immediate term, Amores said the government can help save the battered export sector by devaluing the Philippine peso, lowering the cost of electricity, establishing crop zoning system and building common post harvest and processing facilities in food producing areas.

Amores, who also sits in the board of both the Export Development Council and PhilExport representing the food sector, said that farmlands must also be made eligible for use as collateral for farmers to be able to go into commercial crop production.

Credit, which is an essential part of producing more food, must be made accessible to farmers, especially the beneficiaries of agrarian reform who are prohibited by law to use their land transfer titles as collateral.

A third major reform the export leader sought is the granting of 100 percent duty-free importation of farm inputs like fertilizer and machinery not only for farming but in food processing.

He welcomed a bill in Congress that seeks to institutionalize corporate farming but must not make it mandatory to corporations. It should be made more flexible so that corporations may enter into joint venture or contract growing schemes with groups of farmers.

What should be done right away is for the government not only to allow the use of parts of the P1- billion export promotions fund but bolster it with the Agriculture Competitiveness Enhancement Fund to aggressively promote Philippine products in Japan, India, China which are new free trade partners of the country but also in the Middle East and other emerging economies. –Philexport News and Features