Angara wants agri R&D agenda identified

In a budget hearing, Senator Edgardo Angara urged the Department of Agriculture (DA) to identify the agenda of research and development in agriculture. This is in light of the 29.95% increase of the Department of Agriculture budget on Extension Support, Education, and Training Services, from its 2007 budget of Php743.3 million to Php965.9 million this year.

"But even with this increase, our research spending in agriculture still lags behind that of other Southeast Asian countries. Public expenditure in agriculture research must increase fourfold to be comparable with Thailand[1], and tenfold to reach 1% of GVA, a norm considered feasible and desirable for developing countries." Senator Angara explained.

"Because of this limited budget for research and development in agriculture, we've got to prioritize the areas that needs more studies on, and would be more beneficial to the farmers and to the country's agriculture sector," said Senator Angara.

Some of the areas that the senator identified for further research are the following: high value crops, biotechnology, biofuels, and livestock genetic upgrading

"We've got to continuously train our farmers of the latest and practical innovations to farming, and at the same time train a pool of agricultural scientists that will continuously raise the notch of agriculture in the country," the senator and chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food asserted.

During his term as secretary of the Department of Agriculture, Senator Angara greatly improved the human capital of the department by providing international and local scholarships to DA employees.