DA to release P20M funds for PHL's poorest farmers

CEBU, Philippines - To boost food production in the country, the department of Agriculture is set to release P20 million funds for the development of one million hectares of land tended by the country's poorest farmers.

In a statement, DA announced that it has partnered with India-based International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) to carry out the Philippine Rainfed Agriculture Research and Development and Extension Program (PhilRARDEP).

DA will work on PhilRARDEP through its staff bureaus, Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR), together with its Regional Field Units (RFU)- Regional Integrated Agricultural Research Centers (RIARCS), Agricultural Training Institute Regional Training Centers (ATI-RTC) as well as selected State Universities and Colleges (SUCs)

“(DA) Secretary (Proceso) Alcala will release P20 million this August for our rainfed program. We will be implementing programs that we have learned based on how the government of India put its money for what is important,” said ICRISAT Director General William D. Dar.

Coordinating agency for the PhiRARDEP will be BAR.

“PhiRARDEP’s components are rainfed farming innovation; community-based watershed management and soil conservation; policy formation; and capacity building. We will train technicians who will help marginal farmers in raising their income,” said BAR Director Nicomedes P. Eleazar.

While the Philippine government has in the past poured majority of its funding and policy support for irrigated agriculture, rainfed areas have been neglected despite its huge contribution to food production.

“Almost half of our food supply comes from rainfed areas. If it’s developed, maybe this can rise to 60 to 70 percent,” said ICRISAT Communications Director Rex Navarro.

According to Eleazar an estimated 20 million Filipinos are in these rainfed areas. Farmers only depend on rainfall for their water supply which is why their income is limited specially if they plant only rice.

“What we will do is introduce to them other [drought-resistant] commodities,” Eleazar added.

Farmers in rainfed areas may only plant rice once a year instead of twice due to their rain-dependence. Among alternative crops considered to be drought-resistant or those requiring much less water compared to rice are root crops such as sweet potato and cassava and legumes including peanut, pigeonpea, chickpea, and sweet sorghum.

Alcala has also supported the planting of adlai, a rice-like crop known to be a staple of some Filipino natives in Mindanao, and white corn.

The importance of a rainfed agriculture program is expected to intensify due to the manifestation of climate change which poses a threat of reduction of water supply for agriculture along with increasing temperature or hotter climate.

DA-BAR earlier funded the Community Based Watershed Management (CBWM), a rainwater harvesting technique, in four sites—Tarlac, Bulacan, Ilocos Sur, and Bohol.