THE Task Force Mapalad (TFM), a federation of agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) and landless peasants, has expressed support to the plan of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to implement its mega farm project as measure to bring rice prices down to P20 per kilo.
In a statement yesterday, June 8, TFM stressed that DAR Secretary Bernie Cruz should immediately fine-tune the concept, which entails the consolidation of small farm lots into mega farms for rice production.
The group, however, stressed that the administration of incoming President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. must have the political will to implement the program while the DAR should hasten the distribution of land covered under Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (Carp) to farmers who may join the mega farms.
TFM noted that the agency should find the contiguous area of 150,000 hectares and immediately distribute hundreds of thousands of hectares of land still not transferred to farmers through Carp.
In addition, they call on the DAR to oppose land reclassification since many farms have been acquired by real estate developers led by the Villar family and transformed into subdivisions, malls or memorial parks.
TFM added that the consolidation of farms into a huge plantation may be acceptable to Carp beneficiaries once the government commits itself to provide farmers crucial inputs like fertilizer, pesticide and fuel at lower prices.
Also, irrigation services must be expanded to supply these mega farms with water, they said.
Aside from inputs, TFM said, the government must guarantee that banks should expand their credit portfolio in the countryside consistent with the law and provide farmers with the cash they need for rice production.
"The mega farm is a cluster of contiguous farms that are consolidated to form a sizable plantation capable of producing a large volume of farm products to meet the demand of consumers," Cruz earlier said.
He added that from the studies they conducted in the mega farms project, they found out that not only is the P20-a-kilo rice achievable, but it will also be profitable for ARBs.
The agency's "Programang Benteng Bigas sa Mamamayan" (PBBM) under the mega farm project will start with 150,000 hectares of contiguous rice land covered by Carp and adjacent small farm lots.
The agency claimed that the area can produce an average of 142 cavans of rice per hectare per cropping season. This translates to a gain of P76,501 annually for ARBs.
"We Filipinos have a daily average per capita consumption of rice at 301 grams or 109.9 kilograms per year. With that figure, this project can feed around nine million poor Filipinos," it added.* (PR)