DA hoping agri sector will do well next year

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Agriculture (DA) is hoping that 2012 will be a good year for the agriculture sector as the department hopes to finally see results from its preparatory work done this year.

This was the assessment of Agriculture Undersecretary Joel Rudinas who said the DA has not made any downward revision yet of its agri sector growth forecast for 2012 of 4.5 percent to 5.5 percent.

“For 2012 we have good prospects. We are hoping that our efforts will snowball and that we have equipped the sector with additional resources,” Rudinas told The STAR.

The DA, he pointed out, has “put in well-intended investments” that include infrastructure and post-harvest facilities for higher agricultural production.

Furthermore, Rudinas said, “with a bigger budget next year, we can use this for higher productivity.”

He continued that “we will put in place strategic investments to support and create an atmosphere to encourage the farming sector.”

The DA has been allotted the highest budget in history with P61.7 billion for 2012, representing an increase of 61 percent over 2010.

The bulk or 62 percent of the 2012 budget is allocated for infrastructure. These are investments that individual farmers cannot afford and which Government must thus invest in.

In its yearend assessment, the DA said its most significant achievement this year was restoring the trust of the farmers and other agriculture stakeholders in government.

According to Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala, “I took over a department that was scandal ridden and listed among the most corrupt agencies of government.”

However, Alcala said, “the DA is no longer in that list.”

The DA, Alcala said, has redesigned farm-to-market roads (FMRs) so that at least 50 percent of the budget goes to concreting critical road sections.

With that, Alcala said, the DA ensures that the roads do not disappear after a flood.

The DA has also started the geo-tagging of infrastructure projects so that the DA is able to track them online from project identification, to bidding and at various stages of completion.

The public may already view this on the Mindanao Rural Development Program (MRDP) website.

The DA is training staff to geo-tag all other infrastructure projects. –Marianne V. Go (The Philippine Star)