The existing value chain program of the government is seen as a key factor in achieving the highest possible level of rice sufficiency in the country through the "Masagana Rice Industry Development Program" or MRIDP.

*(File photo)

* The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) said that the value chain program for agricultural products, particularly on farm clustering, marketing, and linking smallholders to providers of inputs and credit, "would be a solid ground for the four strategies of the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) MRIDP." "With the MIRDP set to be fully adopted, the wealth of experience of ARBOs [agrarian reform beneficiary organizations] can hasten the learning curve of newly-organized clusters to be formed by the different attached agencies of the DA," the agency said. These include the irrigators associations (both national and communal irrigation systems) of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA), the small water irrigation systems associations of the Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM), and rice farm cooperatives registered with the Cooperatives Development Authority (CDA). "The DA met with DAR and BSWM last July 12 to discuss how the clustering of farmers would be expedited and a follow-up meeting for this purpose has been set for August 16," the DAR said. The Agrarian Reform department further said that other programs for ARBOs that could jibe with the strategies of MIRDP include stocks and market liberalization, land reform, agro-processing and input supply channels, urban finance, and market institutions. Meanwhile, the four core strategies of the MRIDP are: MAtatag (climate change adaptation or resiliency), SAma-sama (clustering and consolidation of farms), GAnado (motivated farmers in the rice value chain), and NApapanahon (digital transformation to improve farming practices and program implementation). Matatag aims to boost farmers' climate change resiliency by adjusting the planting calendar during the wet season, shifting main production to the dry season, and promoting crop diversification and crop-livestock-fisheries integration using balanced fertilization, proper irrigation, and other climate-smart practices. Sama-sama seeks to create economies of scale by clustering farmers and consolidating farms at the barangay and municipal levels and converging interventions. They will be linked to millers and the NFA, enabling cooperation between farmers, millers, and government institutions to achieve better prices, better quality rice, and appropriate seed distribution. This, too, is the essence of GAnado, or the value chain approach. NApapanahon supports the first three approaches by providing timely and accurate information for decision-making, making interventions digitally- based, location-specific, and efficient. The MIRDP will support rice clusters with: seeds, fertilizers and soil ameliorants; training-related activities; credit programs and loan facilities; crop insurance; market assistance; irrigation projects, production and post- harvest machinery and equipment and facilities.