Reliance on imported machines, fertilizers keeping PH farmers poor—expert | Inquirer News

Reliance on imported machines, fertilizers keeping PH farmers poor—expert

/ 05:44 PM July 07, 2022

BACOLOD CITY—Making affordable locally produced farm machinery and encouraging farmers to go organic are the key to Philippine agriculture’s survival, a US-based Filipino agriculture bio-systems engineer said.

Manuel Reyes, a research professor at Kansas State University, was one of the resource persons at the “Philippine open systems agriculture machinery manufacturing workshop” at a Regenerative Agriculture International Conference at May’s Garden in the city that ended on Wednesday (July 6).

Article continues after this advertisement

“We need to focus on agriculture where the money returns to the community,” Reyes said.

FEATURED STORIES

“We are dependent on sophisticated foreign machines that our farmers do not need. We need simple machines made by Filipinos for Filipinos,” he added.

Reyes said there was a need to veer away from buying expensive, complicated, and imported machinery that farmers cannot repair on their own.

Article continues after this advertisement

“If the Philippines continues to rely on imported farm machinery, the farmers will always be stuck in poverty,” Reyes said.

Article continues after this advertisement

“We need to develop machines for the farmers, targeting the farmers and giving employment to the community,” he added.

Article continues after this advertisement

Reyes also stressed the need to focus on organic agriculture and the use of locally produced fertilizer.

“Organic fertilizer produced by local farmers will free the country from having to buy expensive imported fossil fuel-based fertilizer,” he said.

Article continues after this advertisement

Organic farming, he said, will also enable farmers to diversify into other crops, protect the environment and biodiversity, and boost the health of the people.

Ramon Uy, president of the RU- Ecological and Agricultural Development Foundation Inc. that hosted the international conference, said the production of local farm machinery will provide jobs and organic fertilizer will be additional sources of income for farmers.

“Unfortunately the focus of the government is always on increasing production, not on increasing the wealth of the farmers,” he said.

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.

Subscribe to our daily newsletter

By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy.

“More production does not translate to more profit for the farmers. There should be focus on how to make the farmers rich and farming sustainable,” he said.

Uy said he hoped President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. puts more focus on organic farming and allocates a larger budget for it.

TSB
TAGS:

No tags found for this post.
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.

Subscribe to our newsletter!

By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy.

© Copyright 1997-2024 INQUIRER.net | All Rights Reserved

This is an information message

We use cookies to enhance your experience. By continuing, you agree to our use of cookies. Learn more here.