The Philippines is keen on tapping overseas development assistance (ODA) from Japan to finance a program of the Department of Agriculture (DA) which aims to provide Filipino farmers and fishermen with modern equipment and postharvest facilities.
“In my recent visit to Japan, I explored the possibility of getting foreign financing so the DA could provide more farm machineries to farmers and modern storage equipment to fishermen,” Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol said in a Facebook post over the weekend.
“The prospects are very encouraging, with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan and the Japan International Cooperation Agency committing to look into the mechanization needs of the Philippines,” Piñol added.
He said the Philippines could have achieved its rice self-sufficiency target earlier if postharvest losses, currently pegged at 16 percent, was cut by at least half.
“That would have meant that the current rice-supply deficit of about 500,000 metric tons [MT], according to recent production statistics, would have been filled up by the losses,” Piñol said.
“It is worse in fisheries where about 40 percent of the fish catch and aqua harvests is lost because of lack of facilities, like ice factories and cold storage. This is the reason why the [DA] is focusing on mechanization and equipment modernization,” he added.
In a Facebook post on April 7, the DA chief said President Duterte has directed him to hasten the “improvement” of farm mechanization in the country. Piñol added that Duterte “promised” that he would provide “sufficient funds to support the program”.
“The President also instructed me to make sure that in the mechanization program, the farm workers will not be displaced and that they would be given livelihood projects,” he said.
“That was when I told him that the DA has already started a program called ‘Makinadong Magsasaka’ or ‘Mechanized Farmers’ where farm workers are organized into groups and trained on how to operate, maintain and repair farm equipment,” he added.
Under the Makinadong Magsasaka program, the DA trains farm workers to become equipment and machineries operators and service providers, according to Piñol. Piñol added the program has already started in Regions 11 and 12.
Image credits: DA Photo