Young, techie Pinoy farmers to boost PH agri growth --- PBBM
Published May 31, 2023 07:44 am
The government intends to encouraging young people to enter the agriculture sector, and bring down the average age of Filipino famers, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. said.
President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. presides over the rice industry convergence meeting at the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) head office in Quezon City on May 31, 2023. (Noel B. Pabalate)
Marcos said they intend to do this through the use of new technologies in agriculture, which will need the participation of young and tech-oriented young Filipinos. He said this was among the matters he discussed during the rice industry convergence meeting he attended at the National Irrigation Administration in Quezon City on Wednesday, May 31. "Napag-usapan din natin (What we have also discussed), speaking of new technologies, is bringing down the average age of the Filipino farmer. And to do that again, we engage them with new technologies because they will be the ones who will operate those systems, those new technological systems," Marcos said in a media interview. "And that will make it interesting for young people to come into the sector," Marcos added. This effort, he said, is also part of the government's goal to reach 97.4 percent self-sufficiency for rice. Convergence of gov't, private sector During the meeting, Marcos told officials to initiate the convergence between the agencies and private sector to attain rice sufficiency. "So ito yung gusto naming gawin ipag-converge nga lahat ng ahensiya ng pamahalaan (So, this is what we want to do: to converge all government agencies) and then to engage the private sector to come in and to partner with government, to partner with cooperatives, to partner with the individual farmers. Para lahat ng kakayahan natin (So that all our resources)not only a government but even as I said private sector, as individual, is directed in the same way," Marcos said. The government, he said, is setting a 97-percent target of rice self-sufficiency by 2028, which is considered an ample supply for Filipinos by then. The President said the government will also consolidate the farms in the country in an attempt to increase rice production and bring down production costs. He further said that they are trying to consolidate the farms in order to take full advantage of the economies of scale of the new technologies. "So these are the kinds of things that we were talking about. Also, the digitalization so that we provide good data to our farmers, the farmer leaders of cooperatives," Marcos said.
President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. presides over the rice industry convergence meeting at the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) head office in Quezon City on May 31, 2023. (Noel B. Pabalate)
Marcos said they intend to do this through the use of new technologies in agriculture, which will need the participation of young and tech-oriented young Filipinos. He said this was among the matters he discussed during the rice industry convergence meeting he attended at the National Irrigation Administration in Quezon City on Wednesday, May 31. "Napag-usapan din natin (What we have also discussed), speaking of new technologies, is bringing down the average age of the Filipino farmer. And to do that again, we engage them with new technologies because they will be the ones who will operate those systems, those new technological systems," Marcos said in a media interview. "And that will make it interesting for young people to come into the sector," Marcos added. This effort, he said, is also part of the government's goal to reach 97.4 percent self-sufficiency for rice. Convergence of gov't, private sector During the meeting, Marcos told officials to initiate the convergence between the agencies and private sector to attain rice sufficiency. "So ito yung gusto naming gawin ipag-converge nga lahat ng ahensiya ng pamahalaan (So, this is what we want to do: to converge all government agencies) and then to engage the private sector to come in and to partner with government, to partner with cooperatives, to partner with the individual farmers. Para lahat ng kakayahan natin (So that all our resources)not only a government but even as I said private sector, as individual, is directed in the same way," Marcos said. The government, he said, is setting a 97-percent target of rice self-sufficiency by 2028, which is considered an ample supply for Filipinos by then. The President said the government will also consolidate the farms in the country in an attempt to increase rice production and bring down production costs. He further said that they are trying to consolidate the farms in order to take full advantage of the economies of scale of the new technologies. "So these are the kinds of things that we were talking about. Also, the digitalization so that we provide good data to our farmers, the farmer leaders of cooperatives," Marcos said.