Capitol starts distributing seeds, fertilizers to farmers in Bantayan island

Farmer Artemio Bolo first thought that 2013 would be a good year for his harvest.
Supertyphoon Yolanda reduced his crops in Sta. Fe, Bantayan Island into storm debris.
The 62-year-old farmer from barangay Kabac said he had no money to start over.
His worries were somewhat eased yesterday after he and 400 others received assorted high-yielding vegetable seeds from the Cebu provincial government and private donors.
“Maayo unta ug kini makapuli sa nangaguba namo nga pananom. Wala na mi uban mapangitaan ug kwarta,” he told Cebu Daily News.
(I hope this can replace the crops that got destroyed because we don’t have other sources of income.) He lost a field planted with bananas, camote and vegetables.
The Capitol recorded storm-related crop and livestock losses of more than P811 million in Cebu province, based on farm gate prices.
Yesterday’s distribution of seeds, fertilizer and farm implements in Sta. Fe signaled the roll-out of an agriculture task force formed as part of the Capitol’s effort to help northern Cebu get back on its feet.
Farmers received seeds for mung beans (monggo), corn, camote and cassava, among others.
The task force will oversee an intensive crop rehabilitation plan for towns and cities heavily affected by Yolanda.
A ceremonial turnover and planting of seeds was led by Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III with Provincial Agriculturist Roldan Saragena and consultant Dr. Romulo Davide, the governor’s uncle.
Also present were ABC ex-officio member of the Cebu Provincial Board (PB), Jose Ribomapil Holganza Jr., Madridejos Mayor Salvador Dela Fuente, Bantayan Vice Mayor Chad Tanares and other local officials.
The crop rehabilitation plan will branch out to 13 storm-hit municipalities and cities. It is expected to yield results by January, said Saragena.
In his speech, Gov. Davide said he admired the resilience of farmers in the face of calamities that struck Cebu in recent months.
“The Capitol will definitely help. Just do not get impatient because we are trying our best to solve the problems as fast as we can,” he told residents in a small chapel in Kabac. The chapel was among the few structures that survived the fury of the supertyphoon.
He assured farmers of financial and technical assistance from the provincial government.
Davide earlier approved an initial P6 million outlay for the agriculture rehabilitation plan.
Hybrid crops
Around 400 farmers received the first wave of assorted vegetable seeds which will produce high-yielding crops.
Dr. Romulo Davide, founder of the Farmer-Scientists Training Program (FSTP), brought 243 packs of corn seeds from the University of the Philippines Los Banos.
Argao town’s FSTP members contributed 5,000 camote cuttings. The Provincial Agriculture Office provided 203 banana suckers of the cardaba variety.
East West Seed Company donated 300 packs of high-yielding assorted vegetable seeds while businessman Wellington Lim gave a thousand packs of organic fertilizer.
Dr. Davide said hybrid seeds have a higher production rate than conventional ones.
Rewards will be given to municipalities that implement the program well, said Dr. Davide.
Green wall
Meanwhile, the government has allocated close to P350 million to restore a “green wall” of mangroves and natural beach forests in coastal areas of Eastern Visayas worst hit by supertyphoon Yolanda.
Environment Secretary Ramon Paje said his department would lead a massive coastal rehabilitation of the region, particularly Leyte and its capital city, Tacloban.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has set aside P347 million for the program, he said in a news release.
It will cover practically the entire eastern seaboard of Eastern Visayas, Paje said.
The aim is to restore the region’s degraded coastal forests and to make its coastlines less vulnerable to extreme weather events.
Under the Philippine Water Code, people are not supposed to build houses in riverbanks, mangroves, seashores, said Paje. That’s an easement of three meters in urban areas, 20 meters in agricultural areas and 40 meters in forest areas which are reserved for public use for recreation, navigation, floatage, fishing and salvage.
Paje said it needs “a display of political will” by local officials in Eastern Visayas to restore their mangrove areas and beaches. /with an Inquirer report