We spent P3.65B to help farmers battle drought, says DA

THE DEPARTMENT of Agriculture (DA) has done its part in mitigating the effects of a strong El Niño on Mindanao’s farmers, which was basically supporting food production rather than distribution.

Undersecretary Emerson U. Palad said in a briefing on Monday the DA has poured some P3.65 billion to help farmers who are battling dry conditions across the nation.

Palad was reacting to questions about whether the DA could have done all for El Niño-affected farmers, especially following a bloody dispersal of a protest in North Cotabato province which left three dead.

“These (support for farmers) include production support (inputs), irrigation augmentation, cloud-seeding operations, shallow-tube wells, etc.” said Palad, who is agriculture undersecretary for operations.

As for North Cotabato, he said Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala himself was in the province in February and March, personally seeing to the distribution of DA’s support.

Palad said the DA mandate was limited to production interventions and not the distribution of food. “We support the production of rice; but we do not give away milled rice,” he said.

Palad fell short of saying that closer assistance to farmers was expected of local governments since such functions have been devolved, but he said he “refrains from commenting” on details related to the farmers barricade and the violent dispersal.

Alcala was in Carmen town last March 16 to lead P5.8 million worth of farm goods including P3.7 million worth of certified rice seeds for members of 16 irrigators associations in the Malitubog-Maridagao area of North Cotabato.

Other aid packages included corn seeds, urea fertilizer, garden tools with vegetable seeds, fruit tree seedlings, livestock and poultry, knapsack sprayers, among others.