Friday, April 18, 2008 Farmers' center pushed to help solve rice crisis By Ben O. Tesiorna
NORTH Cotabato officials suggested a farmer exchange center patterned after the "botika sa barangay" to other local government officials from all over Mindanao during the Mindanao-wide rice consultation held in Davao City Thursday.
A brainchild of North Cotabato Representative Bernardo Piñol Jr., the farmer exchange center will serve as depository of fertilizers and seedlings where farmers could get at half the price from the market.
Vice Governor Emmanuel Piñol said the present price of seedlings and fertilizers are so high that poor farmers could hardly afford it.
He said this could be one of the reasons why there is a low production of rice in the country, adding that if the government could address the problem on inputs (fertilizers, seedlings, and pesticides) then for sure the rice crisis would be readily solved.
The Piñol brothers said they are now preparing details of their proposal into a bill, which the congressman will file in Congress anytime soon.
Representative Piñol said if one looks intently into the situation facing the country, it is not only the rice production that must be addressed by the government but the economic capacity of the people.
"Kay maski gamay lang production sa rice kung may kwarta ang tao na ipalit dili man magpait ba. Bisan pag daghan ang bugas sa market kung walay kwarta ang tao wala lang gihapon," said Representative Piñol.
He urged the government not just to support rice production improvement in the country, but also all other high-value crops that would mean more profit for the farmers.
Both also urged local officials to look into the multi-billion Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (Acef) under the Department of Agriculture (DA) as an alternative to the bank loans.
They said Acef is available to farmers at zero interest, but lamented the fund is not being utilized by most of the farmers for unknown reasons.
A public official who requested anonymity said some DA officials could have been making money out of the Acef by giving them to favored farmers in exchange for a cut or interest.
The congressman said the truth is government has no serious program for agriculture that would really help the farmers, especially the poor.
He said even the multi-billion peso recently released by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to address the rice crisis is not a serious remedy considering the money is being loaned to farmers through banks.
Most of the farmers shy away from the bank due to the voluminous documents they have to comply with before being given the money, the lawmaker said.
Representative Piñol further said that because of red tape, poor farmers are forced to rely on loan sharks instead who buries the farmers more into poverty.
"Walay tinuuray na programa ang gobyerno sa agriculture. Pero sa mga proyekto sama sa NBN-ZTE dako kaayo sila ug kwarta tapos dili man gihapon mapahimuslan sa mga pobre (There are no serious programs in agriculture. But in projects such as the NBN-ZTE, huge funds are used except the poor can not utilize it)," said the congressman.
The DA conducted a Mindanao-wide rice consultation with local government officials that was attended by mayors, governors, and congressman from all parts of Mindanao. It aims to get the opinions and reactions of local officials of the rice crisis and seek how they could be of help to solve the problem.
