Marcos wants no delays in agri support for farmers this planting season
A farmer in San Marcelino, Zambales, shows his freshly harvested singkamas (turnip) in this photo taken in February 2024. —File photo by Joanna Rose Aglibot | Inquirer Central Luzon
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday directed the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to supply farmers with essential resources for the planting season.
He said this during a meeting with the administration’s economic managers in Malacañang.
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“There should be no significant delays to the implementation of agri-support to farmers,” Marcos told the DA, as quoted in a statement from the Presidential Communications Office.
The president also called on the DBM “to be mindful of the planting season” and promptly deliver budgetary support for the agriculture sector.
“Huwag tayo maiiwanan sa planting season. (Let’s not be left behind in the planting season.) That’s why you need to come up with the timely budgetary support,” Marcos said.
During the meeting, the DA emphasized that “increased rice production supports job creation across the value chain, farm laborers, transporters, millers, and traders, stimulating rural economies.”
In an interview last January 5, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said 2024 was a challenging year for farmers due to adverse weather conditions and the continued prevalence of animal diseases.
“As I said before, this is the year that everything that could possibly happen has happened. From El Niño to La Niña, to the series of typhoons and volcanic eruptions, plus the ASF (African swine fever), and now there’s a brewing bird flu,” Tiu told reporters.
He noted that the farm sector’s loss due to El Niño-induced drought and successive storms amounted to P10 billion, and ASF continued to impact the swine sector since 2019, resulting in lower income and hog output.
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