Thursday, December 14, 2006 Cordi to lose P5B in carrot importation: agri experts
CORDILLERA would be losing P5 billion if the government would remain indifferent to the farmers' call to junk the importation of carrots from China.
An economic analysis done by the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) regional office showed that the region's carrot industry is valued at P5,279,278,520, exclusive of the costs of inputs and other direct and indirect costs.
This is produced from over 4,000 hectares of farmland from the carrot-growing provinces of Benguet, Mountain Province and Ifugao.
Farmers stood firm against the entry of Chinese carrots into the country for fear of losing their livelihood. They opposed the supposed final draft of the Pest Risk Analysis (PRA) done on carrots from China, which was presented to concerned stakeholders at the Department of Agriculture (DA) main office.
Completion of the PRA draft would usher in the signing of an administrative order that promulgates the guidelines on carrot importation.
The economic loss due to importation is among the factors farmers are asking the BPI to consider in recommending the PRA approval.
But experts from the University of the Philippines (UP) claimed that the economic aspect should not be discussed in the PRA but should be left with the DA for policy formulation.
The PRA, as stated, merely dwells on the sanitary and phytosanitary requirements for importation.
Farmers and local officials, mostly from Benguet, did not agree with the recommendation of the PRA team to allow the entry of Chinese carrots even with the findings that the pests and diseases identified on this foreign crop have low to moderate risk of establishment and spread in the local agriculture setting. (JC)
