TABUK CITY, Kalinga – Gov. James Edubba underscored that the province’s agriculture sector stands to benefit from the reforms to be initiated by President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. in the agriculture sector to sustain the country’s food security amidst the impending global food crisis.
Edubba, who personally graced the President’s first State of the Nation Address (SONA) at the Batasan Complex, reported that reforms to be implemented by President Marcos in the agriculture sector will surely inspire concerned agriculture stakeholders in the province to improve their production towards contributing to enhancing the country’s food security amidst.
He claimed that by providing cheaper farm inputs, mechanizing farming activities and making available quality certified seeds will surely allow farmers to lower their production costs and increase their opportunity to earn higher income from their produce while contributing in stabilizing the food supply in their communities and allowing them to sell their extra produce in the nearby markets.
Tabuk City and some parts of Kalinga are considered the rice granary of the Cordillera because of the availability of more than 10,000 hectares of rice farms that has sustained the region’s rice self-sufficiency over the past several years.
Edubba emphasized that with the projected increase in income, farmers may be convinced to till idle lands to significantly increase production areas pursuant to the desire of the Chief Executive for additional production areas to be given out to those landless individuals to till.
According to him, agriculture remains the major source of income in the province that is why the desire of the government to make agriculture a vital economic driver will definitely help in empowering agriculture industry stakeholders to strive for better productivity among their ranks and make food available on the table of every Filipino family.
While the city is fast becoming an urbanized area because of the influx of investments especially in the coming years, the provincial chief executive stipulated that agriculture will remain the major source of income of the people and with idle lands put in food production, food security can be improved in the province and its neighboring communities.
Edubba lauded President Marcos for taking over the leadership of the agriculture department which only shows his desire to make the country’s agriculture sector robust and instrumental in stabilizing the country’s food supply to avoid the unnecessary importation of agricultural crops that heavily impact on the state of local food production.
Edubba asserted that the provincial government will support the initiatives of the agriculture department to bring back the vibrance of the agriculture industry at the local level and eventually improve the value chain of agricultural crops that will command better buying prices in the local markets.
