Young Roots
Our Agricultural Headway
By Johanne Margarette R. Macob
I WAS never interested in agriculture until I started going around our province. My job made me realize how agriculture in our beloved Pangasinan has been helping a lot of families, both the producers and consumers. I have since deeply admired our farmers.
My interest in the field of agriculture has been strengthened by my studies for my MA degree at the University of the Philippines Open University. I am pursuing development communication, a program that underscores the importance of communication in the progress of a society, e.g., the impact of communication in the agriculture sector.
When I was asked (through Skype) by my professor asked how DevCom is faring in the province (for my oral exam), I quickly responded with pride, that development communication is doing well the particularly for the agriculture sector. The seminars have been very effective in instilling pride and confidence among our farmers. Then there are numerous programs of the provincial government that seek to reach out to this sector. In 2012, the Capitol launched its rice productivity enhancement program, extending partly subsidized and interest-free loans in the form of fertilizers and certified seeds while providing trainings, and needed infrastructures.The provincial chief executive himself has been going around towns to personally thank and further inspire the farmers.
I’ve come to know, too, that the Agricultural Training Institute has a number of training programs for our farmers.It has the school-on-the-air program which tries to bridge the geographical gap by reaching out to the farmers in the far-flung areas thru mass media. The program airs lessons on sustainable farming of rice, corn, and mango production.
All these efforts have resulted in concrete gains. The province has consistently been reaping national and regional awards. Just recently, Pangasinan, for the third time in a row, is Department of Agriculture’s National Rice Achiever’s awardee. The Governor, in his recent state of the province address, said the land area dedicated to rice production has expanded from 181,344 hectares in 2007 to 252,262 hectares in 2014 resulting in higher yields, from 811,037 metric tons in 2007 to 1.292 million metric tons in 2014. Pangasinan also contributes 65% of the entire regional palay production. We can only imagine how much more can be produced once phase 2 of the Agno River Integrated Irrigation Project is completed.
Aside from being a top rice-producing province, Pangasinan also holds the distinction of reaping National Quality Corn Achiever’s awards in 2013 and 2014 . The provincial government is also developing a training facility for corn farmers in Eastern Pangasinan. The same attention goes for mango production, which I’ve written about recently.
P.S. I hope this article helps instill more confidence in our farmers in our agriculture. I love Pangasinan!
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