Alcala turns over P22M farm equipment to 11 Leyte towns

HILONGOS, LEYTE, Philippines – Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala recently turned over P22.64-million worth of modern farm equipment to 11 towns in the 5th district of Leyte and three farmers’ groups.

Alcala distributed the equipment when he attended the Harvest Festival and Farmers and Fisherfolk’s Forum held in this town in the presence of Fiber Development Institute administrator Ed Lohoylohoy, DA-8 regional director Antonio Gerundio, town mayors, Rep. Jose Carlos Cari (5th dist., Leyte) and Gov. Dominic Petilla.

The secretary also announced that the country had transformed from the biggest rice importer of Asia  into a rice exporter due to DA’s strengthened staple food sufficiency program. Rice importation has dropped from 860,000 metric tons to only 500,000 last year and then to 400,000 metric tons this year.

With this achievement though, Alcala urged his field officers to implement other agricultural programs. Now, he said, “we are now sufficient on white and yellow corn. We used to import corn … now we are sufficient and starting to export to Korea.”

Other products being exported now are chicken and even Peking duck. “Hopefully, by the end of the year, we will be  exporting whole chicken to South Korea and Saudi Arabia,” he said.

Alcala told the public to make their land productive by using modern farming technology and innovative practices. “There are some problems that government cannot solve, but the solution lies on the farmers themselves”, he added. —-(FREEMAN)