Caraga local legislators gather to craft rice self-sufficiency policy

By Johny S. Natad

BUTUAN CITY, August 30 (PIA) -- The Chairpersons of the Committee on Agriculture of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, and Sangguniang Panglungsod/Bayan from five provinces of the region gathered here during the Rise for Rice Support the National Year of Rice (NYR) Legislators’ Congress on August 29 to formulate strategies and tackle relevant issues about rice productivity.

Department of Agriculture (DA) Caraga Regional Agriculture and Fisheries Information Division (RAFID) OIC Rebecca Atega said the activity is the right time and venue where local legislators as policy makers are gathered together to discuss and collaborate in crafting viable and feasible agricultural policies that will boost production and conservation of agricultural resources in relation to the Food Staples Sufficiency Program (FSSP).

"In the Presidential Proclamation 494, the challenges is for the policy makers to be able to come up with important legislations that would boost farmers' morale, and make rice production a more worthy enterprise. Furthermore, important legislation must be promulgated to tackle rice conservation and responsible rice consumption," Atega said.

Meantime, Butuan City Vice Mayor Angie Calo encouraged co-legislators to truly solve the problems of rice farmers as one of significant strategies to ensure rice self-sufficiency.

Calo said that the problem is that most farmers opted to borrow funds from loan sharks "while there are some unscrupulous traders who manipulated our farmers and the local prices." Thus he said the need to squarely address the problems faced by farmers..

PhilRice Central Experiment Station Science Research Specialist Shereen Razon bared that the national government is very serious on the rice sufficiency program in the country emphasizing that the government will not import rice if not needed and put strategies to harvest stable palay production here in our country for public consumption.

Razon recognized the need to improve palay harvest and increase farmers’ income to ensure "Sapat na bigas, kaya ng Pinas" and the need to establish a workable policies to facilitate the needs of the farmers.

On the same occasion, Surigao del Sur Vice Governor Manuel Alameda encouraged co-legislators to make agriculture as the priority program of intervention.

"The LGU must make agriculture development as its main program since most people working in our localities are mostly farmers and fisherfolk. Thus, an increased budget for agriculture and fisheries must be prioritized while the effective policies and local legislative supports must be pursued to make the agriculture program in our locality workable," Alameda said.

Meanwhile, the congress conducted workshop on NYR policy stipulating strategies that support the legislators in making important legislations and related activities that they may implement in respective localities throughout the region. (JSN/PIA-Caraga)