New DA chief is deeply rooted to agriculture

MANILA, Philippines - “Maka-magsasaka”. “Deeply rooted to the land.” “Agribusiness-minded.”

Not so few who know him well use those characterizations to describe Proceso Alcala, the new Agriculture secretary.

Although a civil engineer by profession, he has made a good mark for himself in the field of agriculture, as a member of the House of Representatives in the 13th and 14th Congresses (2004-2010) and even before his stint as a lawmaker.

Among other positions, he had served as vice chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture headed by former Agriculture Secretary Salvador H. Escudero III.

In recent years, his name has become synonymous with the Sentrong Pamilihan ng Produktong Agrikultura sa Quezon (SPPAQ) set up in Sariaya town.

Started about a decade ago, the huge agricultural trading post was completed in 2008 through a program spearheaded by the two-term congressman.

The SPPAQ subsequently became the nerve center of agricultural trade – as the bagsakan of vegetable products from Quezon province and neighboring places and from as far as the Bicol Region, it was gathered by The STAR.

When this writer visited the agribusiness complex last year, he also gathered that the farmers who brought their crops to the SPPAQ were immediately paid in cash, thus their produce did not pass through layers of middlemen and a better income for the farmers was assured.

Alcala also then told The STAR in an interview at the trading post that even vegetable traders in Manila (about 120 kilometers away), including those in Divisoria, went to Sariaya to buy agricultural commodities which they sold in the national capital region.

It was learned by The STAR that the volume of vegetable trade at the SPPAQ is now more than 70 tons per day.

Plans also are afoot for the P-Noy administration to construct more trading posts like SPPAQ in strategic vegetable-producing parts of the country.

Another program that has also made Alcala, 55, a by-world in the CALABARZON (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) Region’s agriculture sector is the “Processing Gulay Para sa Masaganang Buhay: Gulayan sa Paaralan Best School Implementor Contest.”

Launched in 2007, the program specifically aim to generate interest in vegetable production among public schools under the Department of Education-(DepEd)-Quezon/Lucena City districts using environment-friendly and healthy organic/natural farming practices.

It is now being implemented in partnership with DepEd Quezon and Lucena school districts and Allied Botanical Corp. (ABC), the country’s first Filipino-owned vegetable breeding company.

ABC, headed by Willy Co, president and CEO, provides the program’s seed requirements of high-value, fast-growing vegetables (cauliflower, broccoli, lettuce, mustard, beans, carrots, and “pinakbet” crops) through its Condor quality seeds brand.

To encourage the participants to perform well, Alcala’s office awards classrooms as prizes to outstanding participating schools and cash prizes to pupils and students who tend the gardens.

Over the past three years, hundreds of schools in Alcala’s congressional district (which covers Lucena City and the towns of Sariaya, Candelaria, Tiaong, San Antonio and Dolores) participated in the program.

With Alcala now Agriculture Secretary, his son, Irvin, who won as member of the House of Representatives representing Quezon’s second district, will continue the program, it was gathered by The STAR.

Among other things, the program has chalked up significant accomplishments.

One, it has considerably helped Quezon province become a “food bowl” that is now among those providing the vegetable requirements of Calabarzon region and partially those of Metro Manila.

Through its Research and Development (R&D) component, certain scientific headways have been achieved.

For instance, it was found that high-value vegetable crops can thrive even in seaside areas such as those in Quezon province. This much farmers, teachers, students, and pupils in the district now know after participating in the program.

And where before farmers relied only on their own traditional varieties, now they have a wide latitude of choices for high-yielding and pest and disease-resistant crops that can also withstand harsh weather.

One thing is also emerging: Quezon’s second district is gradually but consistently become a “pinakbet country.”