Dar: Senate-approved agri budget OK for ‘Plant, Plant, Plant’

The Senate has approved a larger funding of P85.6 billion for the Department of Agriculture (DA) for 2021, a 29-percent increase from the first allocation that the agency received under the proposed National Expenditure Program (NEP).

While this is 64 percent lower than the agency’s initial request of P240 billion, Agriculture Secretary William Dar said the new amount could still sustain the implementation of the agency’s flagship “Plant, Plant, Plant” program, and continue the “modernization and industrialization of Philippine agriculture.”

Senator Cynthia Villar, who sponsored the budget adjustment, noted that only the agri-fishery sector posted positive growth when the country plunged into recession at the height of pandemic lockdowns.

“I cannot overemphasize the need for all of us to support the agriculture sector and promote rural development to ensure nutritious and affordable food for our people, and increase the incomes of our farmers and fisherfolk,” she said.

Villar said the DA, with its increased funding, must respond to the challenges brought by climate change and the lack of technology and mechanization. Doing this would alleviate the high poverty rates in rural areas, she said.

About 75 percent of the DA’s 2021 budget would be allocated to Dar’s office.

This will include funding for seven commodity banner programs of the department as well as locally-funded and foreign-assisted projects. Of the amount, P15.5 billion would be dedicated to boosting rice production.

The rest of the money will go to corn (P1.5 billion), high-value crops like abaca and coffee (P1.6 billion), livestock (P1.17 billion), fisheries (P3.12 billion), organic agriculture (P665 million), and halal food production and accreditation (P23.9 million).

The Senate approved its version of the GAB on Thursday.

The proposed budget will now go to the Senate-House conference committee to reconcile any conflicting provisions to produce a unified bill or the draft of the 2021 General Appropriations Act.

A quick look at the 2021 NEP showed that the agencies that got the biggest funding were the departments of education, public works and highways, local government, defense, and the social welfare and development. The DA ranked seventh.