Specials NEWS

The Department of Agriculture (DA-7)-Central Visayas distributed cash and food subsidy vouchers to 9,492 qualified marginal farmers in the region amounting to P47,460,000 at P5,000 each farmer for the first release for 2021 as part of the government’s assistance during this pandemic time.

Cebu City, through an executive memorandum from mayor Edgar Labella, encouraged the public to start 2021 right by planting varieties of ornamentals, forest and fruit trees, herbal plants, others at backyards and spaces around the house as the City Agriculture Department (CAD) offers free seedlings and planting materials.

To be happy, to be healthy, and to leave a legacy – these are the rationale of Miguel ‘Mike’ Pedroso, proprietor of Mike Pedroso Farms, behind his involvement in agriculture.

The Department of Education-Tanjay City Division tapped the San Julio Agrarian Reform Beneficiary Cooperative (ARBC), a farmer cooperative in Tanjay City, Negros Oriental engaged in dairy carabao milk production and processing as its partner in the school-base milk feeding program and is expected to supply milk packs intended for the schoolchildren of Tanjay City.

Agroecology is a sustainable farming approach that refers to the use of natural resources without damaging them. During the MIMAROPA leg of AgriTalk 2020, Jonjon Sarmiento, proprietor of Kuatro Marias’ AgroEcology Farm, discussed agroecology farming and used his farm as an example.

In a bid to be more accessible to farmers and fishermen, state-run Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) had set up different ‘Agri-Hubs’ across the country.

The Department of Agriculture (DA-7)-Central Visayas is now focused on improving the livestock industry of Negros Oriental by enhancing the San Jose Breeding Station at Barangay Janay-Janay in San Jose town as a satellite research outreach station (ROS) of Negros Oriental Research and Development Center (NORDC) of DA-Region 7 to cater to the livestock and other agricultural needs of the farmers in the province. DA-7 regional director Atty. Salvador Diputado in his recent visit at the breeding station, he found the area productive and functional that the center aside from being a livestock breeding station, is now a diversified ROS with the establishment of other crops production areas like cacao and coffee. “The agency’s plan for the ROS is to position it as a potential expansion area for the cacao-coconut intercropping as well as the super sweet jackfruit seedlings.  However, before the release of seedlings or any interventions to farmer-recipients, the area of the farmers must be validated first,” Diputado said. According to NORDC chief Evansueda Abbas that the station has one hectare each for cacao and coffee plantation and it has also 20 heads of breeder turkeys and 30 heads of native chicken with off springs intended for distribution under the provincial dispersal program. Provincial Agriculture Technology and Program Coordinating Office (PATCO) in Negros Oriental, Sarah Perocho bared that the station will continue to operate now that it is being facelifted and improved.  “Ang in-charge diri nga research station naglihok jud aron mapalambo ang station para sa mga mag-uuma,” Perocho said. (The person in-charge of this research station is really working hard to develop and improve the area for the farmers). Meanwhile the DA-7 has turned over 30 heads of upgraded heifer or female cows to farmers in the municipalities of Pamplona and Mabinay and in Guihulngan City with female cows worth P39,900 each or more than one million pesos.  Each local government unit was given 10 cow heads. DA-7 Livestock Coordinator Dr. Voltaire Zeam Amper said that the animals are part of the Expanded Livestock and Poultry Production and Livelihood Project for COVID-19 Response under the “Ahon Lahat, Pagkaing Sapat (ALPAS) Kontra sa COVID-19 Bayanihan I.” Amper added that the project’s objective is to ensure that farmers during this pandemic can produce their own food and can raise additional income for their family. “Qualified beneficiaries of these animals for dispersal are farmer associations and members who are registered in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA),” Amper said. Amper also bared that DA-7 has already delivered 30 heads of heifers to farmers in Bohol and 19 heads were also distributed in Siquijor.  “We are also awaiting the delivery of another 24 heads of upgraded buffalos,” he added. Perocho on the other hand said that the heifers were delivered and distributed to the Fatima Farmer Association of Pamplona; Farm Family Association of Mabinay; and Kapunungang Makugihong Mag-uuma of Guihulngan City. Mabinay Municipal Agriculturist Leilanie Malacapay said the farmer-beneficiaries of the project expressed their gratitude to DA for this livelihood project they received. She hoped that agricultural support continues to pour to the farmers.

An expo showcasing various products made of bamboo will be staged in Malaybalay City, Bukidnon province this year.

Many are quick to dismiss young people as having no interest in agriculture. However, the growing number of young farmers show that this need not be the case, especially if they know that they can make good money tilling the land.

Raw honey is a good source of nutrients that our body needs. Proper production of this commodity can be important, not just to the livelihood of the communities that harvest them, but also in the conservation of the forests they are sourced from.

Herbs are popular for their culinary and medicinal uses. Because of their high market demand, herbs may also provide profitable business opportunities.

The agriculture sector is expected to contract by more than 1 percent within the first three months of this year on the weight of the lingering impact of strong typhoons, namely Quinta, Rolly, and Ulysses, said a top official of an international think tank.”For the first quarter of 2021, we are projecting that the overall growth rate of the volume of production in agriculture is -1.21 percent,” said Glenn B. Gregorio, director at Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA).

After an “unexpectedly challenging year” for the Philippine agriculture sector, the Department of Agriculture (DA) must find a way to execute concrete actions that are “wiser, effective, efficient, and sustainable,” said a top official of an international think tank.

State-lender Land Bank of the Philippines further increased its loan releases to agriculture sector in November last year, the Department of Finance (DOF) announced.

The pair didn't think twice of having their bodies covered with mud and shooting their prenuptial while holding rice straws.

By  Ruel Kenneth Felices

The Department of Agriculture (DA-7) has equipped farmers in Negros Oriental with trainings on production and marketing for cacao, corn, cassava and hybrid rice to enhance their skills and knowledge on new farming technologies for sustainable income and livelihood from agriculture.

Businesses in the food and hospitality industry are big players in waste generation. As more and more consumers seek environmentally-friendly products, services, and practices, more people also welcome the idea of composting food wastes.