BONTOC, Mountain Province – Importation of various agricultural products is not the ultimate solution to the country’s food security concerns, Senator Imee Marcos said here recently.
Marcos flew in this capital town to serve as the guest of honor and speaker during the 18th Lang-ay festival cultural showdown.
“We are making Vietnamese, Pakistani and other foreign farmers richer but we are making our Filipino farmers poorer by importing most of our agricultural requirements instead of providing the needed support to the country’s agricultural sector,” Senator Marcos stressed.
The-re-electionist senator pointed out that what the government should start doing is heavily investing on the construction and improvement of farm to market roads, put up of more irrigation facilities, mechanization of various processes and establishment of post-harvest facilities among others.
She recognized the quality of the agricultural produce of Cordillera farmers that need to be transported to the lowland markets through good farm to market roads, thus, she is working out the provision of some P400 million to complete the Bontoc-Mainit-Sagada rod network that will allow farmers from remote villages traversed by the roadline to have better access to the markets inside and outside the province.
Senator Marcos noted that the Cervantes, Ilocos Sur-Besao-Sagada rod has already been completed that is why it is now easier for the farmers in the said places to transport their agricultural produce both to the lowlands and vice versa while awaiting the next circuit to be finished in the coming years.
According to her, there should be a smooth flow of agricultural products from the farms to the markets aside from low cost of farm inputs to ensure food security and make agriculture a sustainable source of livelihood for the Filipinos, especially those living in remote communities around the country.
Senator Marcos claimed that the agriculture department and other concerned government agencies have established programs which farmers from Mountain Province and the different parts of the ‘Cordillera should access to be able to contribute in significantly improving their production and convince the young ones to be actively involved in agriculture to help ensure steady supply of agricultural products for the people.
Marcos also took the chance to have a brief interaction with beneficiaries of the various programs and interventions of the agriculture department and encouraged them to continue availing to the support from concerned government agencies through their enhanced interventions for them to be able to sustain their respective productions.
Among those agriculture industry stakeholders that had a chance to interact with the senator include coffee growers from the different municipalities, heirloom rice farmers, vegetable farmers, food processors and other stakeholders.
The senator assured the farmers that she will continue to extend whatever available assistance to them to boost their production of agricultural crops that would translate to increased income opportunities for them in the future. By Dexter A. See
