THERE is good news on the Rice Tariffication Law that was implemented this year as tariff collected from imported rice surpassed its P10-billion target allotment for the Rice Competitive Enhancement Program (RCEP).
Department of Agriculture (DA) undersecretary for operations Ariel Cayana relayed the good news on the sidelines of the press conference during the launch of Sulong Pilipinas Agribusiness Summit on Tuesday, December 17.
The department intends to use the surplus to support crop diversification programs next year, and Cayana said they will be studying other possible projects that can be funded with the excess money. Crop diversification is necessary for the sustainability of the farmers’ livelihood, according to DA undersecretary for high-value crops and rural credit, Evelyn Laviña.
However, when talking about sustainability of farmers’ livelihood and agriculture in general, the crop diversification is just one among the many challenges our farmers are currently facing. Some other issues and bumps to bringing agricultural sustainability to our country, which is mainly agricultural in nature, must also be addressed as immediate as crop diversification.
In the study by Brown, et. al. (2018) published in Food and Fertilizer Technology Center (FFTC) for the Asian and Pacific Region Agricultural Policy Platform (FFTC-AP), they mentioned limited diversification, low productivity, climate change, natural resource degradation, investment in technology and innovation and the necessary support services as the important challenges, which constrain agricultural transformation in the country.
Aside from these, they also cited that the long standing challenges that hamper agricultural productivity include limited access to credit and agricultural insurance, low farm mechanization and inadequate postharvest facilities, inadequate irrigation, scant support for research and development (R&D), weak extension service, incomplete agrarian reform program implementation, ageing farmers and fisherfolk, limited connectivity between production areas and markets, and poor compliance with product standards resulting to low competitiveness of agriculture, forestry and fisheries (AFF) products.
The crop diversification programs the DA is intending to establish and/or support are just the first and hopefully not the only step our government will be undertaking in the next year to aid our farmers. Indeed, studying other possible projects to help our farmers sustain their livelihood is a necessary action that must be done immediately and thoroughly by the government. May we remember that farmers are our food producers and to keep them on making food so we must make their livelihood sustainable.