Although the Department of Agriculture has already denied that there is a crisis, the rationing of rice obviously shows the current food situation in the country, he said.
Because farmers are highly dependent on petroleum-based pesticides and fertilizers, the increasing prices of these products are often passed on to the product, which happens to be rice, vegetables or fruits.
To abate the increase, Tañada said farmers should go back to the most basic methods of farming and that is using fertilizers or pesticides which are not commercially-produced.
He said government and farmers should likewise adopt a shift in farming practice, which should gear towards self-sufficiency. He said importation is not a remedy to the present crisis.
"Farmers should be empowered make them produce their own fertilizers," Tañada said adding that increasing productivity also means using available space not for buildings but for vegetable gardens. (RO)
