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Monday, August 22, 2005
Land conversion threatens food production, farmers say
KORONADAL CITY -- A group of farmers here has urged the City Government to set measures that would safeguard the city's prime agricultural lands from land use and crop conversions, especially for the ongoing oil palm development project in the area.
The group, Samahang Magsasaka ng Timog Kutabato (Samatiku), cited that the continuing conversions of farmlands in several villages here into oil palm plantations might eventually affect the area's food-sufficiency and security.
"Our agricultural lands that are suitable for staple food production like rice and corn are slowly being transformed into (oil palm) plantations. Time will come that there will shortage of local food production," Samatiku secretary-general Eliezer Billanes noted in their letter addressed to the city council.
He said the City Council must immediately enact an ordinance or resolution that would ban the further conversion of farmlands planted with rice and corn into oil palm plantations.
Koronadal Mayor Fernando Miguel earlier issued Executive Order (EO) number 07, which sets the establishment of the oil palm industry in the city.
Miguel said the move was in response to the identification of the city last year by the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Trade and Industry as potential expansion area for the oil palm, which is currently centered in Sultan Kudarat and Cotabato provinces.
The City Government is currently developing at least 300 hectares of unutilized or idle farms in 20 of the city's 27 barangays into oil palm plantations.
Billanes said they are strongly opposing the crop conversions as the eventual food shortage might be used by the national government to justify the continuing importation of rice and other agricultural crops.
Aside from the farm conversions, Billanes also cautioned against the massive application of hazardous and toxic chemicals and pesticides for the crop that might pose serious harm to the environment and the health of residents and farm animals.
Billanes pointed out that the solution to the worsening poverty is not the massive expansion of plantation crops like oil palm but the equitable distribution of resources and the implementation of genuine agrarian and urban land reform as well as job generation. (Allen V. Estabillo)
For Bisaya stories from General Santos.Click here. (This section is updated every Monday)
(August 22, 2005 issue)
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