‘Balik Probinsya’ program to boost agriculture in provinces

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Bong Go said the proposed “Balik Probinsya” program may further revitalize the country’s agricultural sector as many city dwellers are reintegrated in the countryside where idle, fertile lands can be developed.

“The offshoot of this program is the development of the agricultural sector,” Go said the other day. “If we can come up with other complementary programs promoting agriculture among those who are reintegrated in the provinces through the Balik Probinsya program, I believe this program will succeed.”

He noted there is a decreasing number of farmers and fishers in the country because many of them are too old to work in the fields and in the seas and also due to the migration of workers from the countryside to urban centers.

The senator also noticed that although a lot of the children of these aging farmers and fishermen prefer to work in the cities, they usually end up as factory workers, laborers, household help, sales girls, most of them earning below the minimum wage.

“We must entice a new generation of farmers to go back to our agricultural roots,” Go said. “We have to make agriculture and aquaculture more promising again to attract young farmers and fishers to these industries.”

Even before becoming a senator, Go has been pushing for a much needed boost to agriculture in the country. Among his proposals are the continued provision of more inputs for farmers, such as seeds, fertilizers, machineries and trainings on scientific and climate resilient farming methods to increase agricultural productivity in the country.

To support his proposed Balik Probinsya, concerned government agencies may explore the idea of providing more scholarships and even trainings abroad for Filipino farmers so they can learn the best practices on farming, such as the kibbutz system in Israel. Barangay agriculture may also be incorporated in the basic education curriculum to inculcate love of farming among Filipino students at a young age.