Bringing back pride in farming
STA. BARBARA—Agriculture has in recent years become a focal industry for development given growing global concern over food security.
And since Pangasinan’s provincial government envisions to remain a mainly agricultural province for at least the next decade, Governor Amado Espino Jr. continues to local farmers to the farmers to pursue farming “as a vocation”.
Espino, in his speech during the distribution of certified palay seeds on Wednesday at the provincial agriculture office here, rallied the farmers to improve their capabilities by adopting modern techniques.
“When I started as the governor of the province, I rejected some of the common practices in farming like the putting of lines in corn fields which is not beneficial and non- essential at all”, said the governor who considers himself a fellow farmer.
He stressed that there should be pride in farming and called on them to encourage at least one or two in the next generation to pursue and carry on with the family’s farming tradition.
Espino, together with some board members, Department of Agriculture (DA) regional office one and Abono Partylist officials, led the distribution of some 3, 700 bags of certified seeds to farmers in 37 municipalities and cities in the province under the Accelerated Certified Palay Seeds Production and Distribution (ACSPD) on Wednesday.
GOVERNMENT SUPPORT
ACSPD is a joint project of the provincial government of Pangasinan, the Department of Agriculture (DA) regional office one, Abono Partylist , BPI- National Seed Quality Control Services and the seed growers associations in Pangasinan.
“I know that the number of seeds we are distributing is not enough to fully support you (farmers) but this is to create the oportunity for us to talk about your concerns and problems,” Espino said.
Abono Partylist founder Engr. Rosendo So added that the project aims to encourage farmers to continue planting despite the challenges to the sector.
One of the concerns of the farmers of the province is the unfinished phase III of an irrigation project, costing P758 million, intended to irrigate at least 20 hectares of fields.
A total of 14, 950 bags of certified seeds have been distributed under the ACSPD since it started on 2011.
The financial scheme of the project requires farmers to pay 50% of the cost while the other 50% will be borne by the ACSPD project (29%) and the local government unit (21%).
OTHER FARM INPUTS
In a related development, Espino also led the distribution of some 14,000 bags of organic and inorganic fertilizers, 1,000 bags of certified palay seeds, 100,000 pieces of tilapia fingerlings, and 2,000 pieces of fruit-bearing tree seedlings in 10 municipalities in the 6th District.
The distribution of farm inputs which include certified seeds and fertilizers is part of the provincial government’s scheme under the Agricultural Technology Enhancement Subsidy and Loan Assistance Program (ATELAP), which aims to increase the agricultural productivity in the project area.
At the same time, the provincial government is batting for a return to organic farming.–Hilda M. Austria and Johanne R. Macob with report from PIO
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