To cushion impact of EVAT: DA enforces production hike, marketing programs

Increase productivity and easier access of products to the market are among the measures the Agriculture Department has lined up for implementation to cushion the impact of Expanded Value Added Tax on the agriculture and fisheries sectors.

Agriculture Secretary Domingo Panganiban recently announced that, although agri-fishery products are not covered by the eVAT, his department would accelerate its farm-to-market road projects and the roll-on/roll-off transport system, or the Strong Republic Nautical Highway.

With the participation of private ship owners, the DA's RO/RO system would involve 243 ports in the country that would serve as the pathway of farmers and fishermen in bringing their products to the market, said Panganiban.

This is part of the DA's logistics and distribution measures, which are the setting up of food lanes where products are delivered from the production sites to the market.

For the upland farmers, the DA has introduced the tramline technology in four remote areas of the country. The tramline system, under the Bureau of Post-harvest Research and Extension, was designed to eliminate manual hauling of farmers' produce by using cables and pulleys instead to transport products from the mountains down to the market.

Other programs the DA would also implement to enhance productivity are efficient logistics and distribution, direct market access, trading layers reduction, input reduction, and substitution and policy intervention.

Productivity enhancement involves improvement of genetic materials of crops, livestock, poultry and fishery products to ensure higher yields and disease prevention mechanism. - Jasmin R. Uy