DA to fund more irrigation in 2012

MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Agriculture (DA) would be spending the bulk of its P61-billion budget for 2012 in long-term public infrastructure projects, saying it would veer away from product-oriented short-term programs that had led to corruption and misuse in the past.

In its yearend report, the DA said interventions for 2012 would include major irrigation systems to increase croppings especially for rice, research and development, training, and post-harvest facilities.

“Our lessons in the past have taught us that the provision of short-term interventions such as direct input subsidies (fertilizer, seed, chemicals, and pesticides) not only cultivates a culture of dependency among the farmers and fishers, it also breeds corruption and wastes scarce government resources,” the DA said in the report.

“In general, we shall veer away from the provision of private goods and shift to the more strategic intervention of providing public goods, which should be the role of government in the first place,” it added.

One of the major scandals that the DA faced recently was the so-called P728-million fertilizer scam allegedly masterminded by former Undersecretary Jocelyn Bolante.

The project, which started in 2004, allegedly diverted funding for fertilizers to be distributed to farmers to the campaign purse of former President Macapagal-Arroyo. Arroyo is currently under hospital arrest on charges of rigging the 2007 senatorial elections.

The DA said it aimed to irrigate 87,405 hectares of agricultural lands and rehabilitate irrigation systems that service around 79,246 hectares. The National Irrigation Administration (NIA), an attached DA agency, also wants to restore 57,199 hectares of irrigated land.

The NIA said it would focus on cheaper and small-gestating irrigation projects to reduce the waiting time for farmers. According to the DA, it plans to construct around 4,584 small-scale irrigation projects that would include shallow tube wells, small water reservoirs, small water impounding projects and spring developments.

To improve the mechanization of the Philippine countryside, the DA said it would distribute about 4,526 units of postharvest equipment and machinery such as dryers, storage and milling equipment, and dairy equipment and machinery next year.

It would also build 2,777 post-harvest facilities for drying, storage, processing and transport, and construct trading centers in Benguet, Pangasinan, Camarines Sur and Cebu.

To connect rural communities to trading centers, the DA said it has earmarked funds for the construction and improvement of about 1,284 kilometers of farm-to-market roads.

In the fisheries front, the department said it would maintain 62 mariculture parks and nine regional and municipal fishports. It would also implement the aqua-silviculture program.