COA: Target of DA’s crop program not fully attained due to deficiencies

The Department of Agriculture (DA) failed to fully implement the High Value Crops Development Program (HVCDP) due to certain issues, according to the annual audit report for 2017 from the Commission on Audit (COA).

COA said in its report released on Wednesday that DA encountered “various deficiencies” with the said program, which has been allotted a budget of P3.95 billion nationwide.

“The physical targets of the National High Value Crops Development Program (HVCDP) were not fully attained due to various deficiencies noted in the project implementation during the year,” the report said.

According to DA, the HVCDP is a program which aims to attain food security and self-sufficiency, economic growth, and at the same time promote the health of consumers through high-value and high-quality crops.  It was created by virtue of R.A. 7900 or the High-Value Crops Development Act of 1995.

Section 2 of the said law states that it is part of the government’s policy to “accelerate the growth and development of agriculture in general, enhance productivity and incomes of farmers and the rural population […] through an all-out promotion of the production, processing, marketing, and distribution of high-value crops in suitable areas of the country.”

To ensure the implementation of HVCDP, COA suggested that DA’s Central Office instruct regional field offices and extension offices (RFO), especially Department of Agriculture and Fisheries in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao to fast track the implementation of the projects.

COA also asked the Bureau of Plant Industry RFOs XIII and CAR to set attainable goals within realistic timelines to avoid underspending, and to speed up procurement procedures to achieve the targets.

The commission has also enlisted reminders for other RFOs, such as tasking RFO-V to require suppliers to deliver the seedlings on time and impose penalties for the incurred delays in delivery, and RFO-VI to ask for the quick distribution of remaining seedlings quickly and provide a list of HVCDP’s actual beneficiaries.

Aside from these, COA also recommended that RFO XI to employ effective monitoring mechanisms to determine if the project was distributed to the intended recipients, while RFO IV-A was instructed to closely monitor the distribution of technical support services and submit the required documents. /je