Specials NEWS

The Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR-7) has set aside over P79.1 million for livelihood projects and activities that were implemented under the Special Area for Agricultural Development (SAAD) program over the last three consecutive years that benefitted over 2,000 fisherfolks and 157 fishermen’s organizations in Central Visayas.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Department of Agriculture (DA-7) with the Cebu Provincial Agriculture Office (PAO), Local Government Unit (LGU) of Asturias, Cebu and Virginia Farms Incorporated conducted the corn varietal derby in Asturias town in Cebu 1st week of December this year to showcase corn production of various corn varieties.

The Department of Agriculture (DA-7) has urged the various local government units (LGUs) in Central Visayas to revisit, update and craft their respective localized Food Security Plan (FSP) to address food accessibility and availability in local communities in a DA-LGU Harmonization of Agricultural Initiatives conference on December 11 held in Balamban Cebu.

Bohol governor Arthur Yap wants to develop Sagbayan town as the livestock and poultry capital of the province as he has observed the abundance of livestock and poultry in this landlocked agricultural municipality.

The municipality of Clarin in Bohol is attracting passersby and tourists as it showcases its unique landscape design of beautifully arranged vegetables and herbs fronting its town hall.

The Department of Agriculture (DA-7)-Central Visayas distributed about 10,830 bags of high-quality inbred rice seeds to 12 local government units (LGU) in Negros Oriental and enhanced the Inbred Rice Model Farm established in Lotlotan, Enrique Villanueva town in Siquijor Province.

Photo by Pierre Bamin on Unsplash.

Tagbilaran City – Bohol Province is now branding its premium rice produced by the Boholano farmers themselves through the launching of its own brand “Sun Rice”, as one of the highlights of the Grand Harvest Festival in November 2020, in a shift of local staple agriculture to competitiveness.

CEBU CITY – Nutrition implementors in Cebu Province specifically from the cities of Bogo and Toledo received vegetable seeds from the Department of Agriculture (DA-7) for household and community food production gardens as one way to address malnutrition especially among children in this time of pandemic. Seeds received include squash, upo, ampalaya, kangkong and string beans which the presidents of Barangay Nutrition Scholars (BNS) in both cities sent a letter of intent (LOI) to DA-7 requesting for seed assistance for them to implement household and community food production. According to Jerrilyn Mora, Barangay Nutrition Scholars (BNS) President of Toledo City that they are encouraging every household from the 38 barangays of Toledo to do backyard gardening during this time of pandemic in order to help improve the nutritional status of each household especially those with malnutrition problems. BNS President of Bogo City Greys Masong also stated in her LOI that the seeds will be distributed in the different barangays of the city and to families with malnourished children.   “It will be part of the city’s rehabilitation and food security program that will help families during this pandemic,” Masong said. Masong added that the current health emergencies do not deter them (BNS) from implementing nutrition program in their areas. Aside from focusing on the prevention of child stunting, they also encouraged communities to have their own home and community gardens as  source of nutritious food.

CEBU CITY – The Department of Agriculture (DA)-Central Visayas through its Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Division (AMAD) has linked the Dumalan Farmers’ Association, Inc. (DUMFA) of Dalaguete, Cebu to the Ulay Agro Industrial Enterprises (UAI), a Cebu City based vegetable trader/buyer in marketing their vegetable and other agricultural produce through a memorandum of agreement signed by DA-7 and UAI on Friday, October 23. The memorandum of agreement signed by DA-7 and the Ulay Agro Industrial Enterprises (UAI) for the Kadiwa on Wheels is to establish the “big brother-small brother partnership” concept of helping small farmers (small brother) market their products directly to a big brother (buyer). The UAI is a Cebu City based vegetable trader that will directly market the agricultural produce of DUMFA through the DA7’s Kadiwa markets and Diputado supports the initiative of UAI to be a part of the Kadiwa on Wheels. According to AMAD’s Market Development Section Chief Dave Amrinto that DA7 provides the technical assistance and support to UAI during its Kadiwa implementation as the UAI serves as the big brother being the consolidator of the produce of the small farmers association.  “Aside from being the marketing arm of DUMFA, UAI will also provide the farmers with farm input assistance and trainings.  It will also pick-up the produce of their small brother farmers from Barangay Dumalan and market the agri-produce through the Kadiwa on Wheels, which the UAI will manage,” Amrinto said. For the farmers/members of DUMFA, they must ensure the supply of vegetables needed by the big brother AUI.  Through this big brother-small brother tandem, both parties are helping each other in this time of pandemic, Amrinto added. DA-7, Cebu City to establish the P14M regional food terminal In a similar development DA-7 headed by its regional director Atty. Salvador Diputado and the Cebu City government led by mayor Edgardo Labella inked a memorandum of agreement, October 21 to establish the P14-million Central Visayas Regional Food Terminal (CVRFT) in Cebu City. Diputado in his statement during the signing said that DA is implementing the “Enhance KADIWA ni Ani at Kita Inclusive Food Supply Chain Program” of which the food terminal is a component project.   The food terminal serves as the central storage and warehousing facility and as a trading center where small farmers and fishers can directly sell their produce to food processors, institutional buyers, traders and market vendors, he explained. “Through the food terminal these market players can obtain agricultural produce that are of quality and at reasonable prices.  With this project, our farmers/fishers will have the opportunity to improve their income, while our consumers will enjoy a reasonable market price,” Diputado said. According to Diputado that the P14 million grant comes from the DA with the lot-area provided by the Cebu City government as its counterpart in the project.  This is a grant of the DA to Cebu City, and it is one of the four terminals to be established in various areas in the country. Mayor Labella on the other hand thanked the DA for its continued assistance to the farmers of Cebu City and he said that the city has around 70 percent of its land area that is considered agricultural. Cebu City qualified in the criteria set by the DA in the establishment of a regional food terminal which include among others, being a trading center and a convergence area.  The MOA signing was witnessed by City Councilors Phillip Zafra, Junjun Osmena and Dave Tumulak, and City Agriculturist Joey Baclayon and DA7 Agribusiness Chief Wency Egama.

TAGBILARAN CITY — A rice farmer from Paraiso, Mabini town in Bohol, Estarlita Vallecera got for the first time the highest yield from its hybrid rice farm when she harvested an average of eight metric tons per hectare during his actual harvest last October 16 and the Department of Agriculture (DA) here is expecting more Bohol rice farmers to have the same harvests.

CEBU CITY – The Department of Agriculture (DA-7) is pushing to revitalize and revive the coffee industry in Central Visayas which has been declining through the years. DA-7 regional executive director Atty/ Salvador Diputado led the actual initial planting of 1,000 Robusta coffee plantlets at its Ubay Stock Farm in Ubay, Bohol. Report of the DA and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) stated that the country’s production volume of coffee is decreasing by 2.87 percent annually, and the production yield is decreasing by 2.23 percent annually, according to Diputado. DA-7 High Value Crops Development Program (HVCDP) Coordinator John Dennis Ranario bared that DA-7 is procuring planting materials of Robusta coffee to expand the coffee production in Central Visayas. Ranario added that in Central Visayas coffee production areas are in Bohol, Cebu, and Negros Oriental with Tuburan town in Cebu considered as the coffee basket in the region. Ranario said that under the HVCD program, DA-7 provides various trainings and planting materials to the identified farmers of the region to increase coffee production. Diputado explained that the coffee planting in Ubay Stock Farm is part of the high value crops field that the DA is establishing in parts of the stock farm to make idle lands productive.  “This activity is in accordacce with the Plant, Plant, Plant program of Agriculture Secretary William Dar,” Diputado added. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, Central Visayas has 1,047,765 coffee fruit bearing with 104MT production in 2015 that contributed 0.3 percent share of the total coffee production in the country.

CEBU CITY— The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR)-Central Visayas called on fisherfolks in the region to register with their respective City or Municipal Agriculture Office of the local government unit or the Provincial Fishery Offices of BFAR to listed under the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA) and accounted in the BFAR’s Fisherfolk Registration system in order to avail of post-disaster livelihood projects and insurance programs.