Tuesday, April 22, 2008 Farmers summit in 3rd district up
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- Pampanga third district Representative Aurelio Gonzales will hold a one-day summit for farmers in his area on Wednesday at the Jojo's Restaurant (formerly Café Fernandino) here.
The summit, which starts at 9 a.m., will have more than 100 participants composed of farmers, farmer-leaders, irrigators and representatives of various government agencies.
Among the participating agencies will be the agriculture and agrarian reform departments, the National Irrigation Administration (NIA), the National Food Authority (NFA), and the local government units (LGUs).
Gonzales said the summit is aimed at gathering inputs from all concerned to boost productivity, particularly rice, and other important food crops in the district and provide additional safety nets for farmers.
"This is an important and timely activity, and we need to generate as much information as possible from all sectors to help us in coming up with relevant solutions to the problems that confront our food production program and the farmers," he said.
The lawmaker said the third district is a food basket of Pampanga in view of its vast areas devoted to rice and corn production.
"Part of the goal of this summit is to be able to coordinate government efforts to maximize their impact on the needs of the farmers and how the results would redound to their greater benefits," he said.
He said other concerns, including the conversion of agricultural lands to residential or commercial lands, might be tackled during the summit.
"It's consistent with what has been voiced out by the President (Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo) as one of the reasons behind the decline in our production of rice," he said.
Gonzales said the summit should be able to generate new ideas, strategies and initiatives that will augment his own projects in the district to support the farmers.
"I have already started implementing support projects to farmers in the district that include provision for free seeds, fertilizer, construction of irrigation facilities, farm-to-market roads, and providing farm tractors to them," he said.
He said the output of the summit can be used in sponsoring pertinent a law or resolution in the House of Representatives to shore up the existing safety nets for farmers as provided by government.
He said will support all legislative initiatives that will improve food production and the lives of farmers in the country.
"They are the backbone of our survival and we need to give all the support that we can give them as President Arroyo herself has pledged," Gonzales said.
