Press Release
November 7, 2008

Farmers need gov't support, not lip-service - Loren

Senator Loren Legarda said yesterday that Filipino rice farmers are known for their diligence, thus the exhortation by Malacañang for them to plant more rice is unnecessary and superfluous.

"The trouble with our government is that it continues to mistake words for action," she said, adding "rice farmers need tangible and concrete government support, not lip-service."

Loren pointed out that it is not just a question of planting more rice to meet the country's rice sufficiency which stands at present at 90 percent, but of the government allocating more resources so rice farmers can get more yield from their farm lands per hectare.

"For example, if the government wants to maximize the planting season even in rain-dependent farm lands, then it cannot go around the fact that it must fund more rice-land irrigation projects," said Loren.

"Also, the government must provide farmers more assistance in procuring high-yielding rice varieties, farm implements and equipment like tractors, as well as fertilizers," she added.

According to Loren, rain-fed farm lands can be freed from the finicky planting seasons through the provision to farmers of irrigation systems.

She said some farmers may have even been insulted by Malacañang's call because those of them without irrigation support cannot plant rice unless the rains come.

"It is not a question of desire or its lack to plant in un-irrigated areas. It is a matter of farmers being held hostage by the season."

The senator, nonetheless, conceded the need for the country to achieve 100 percent rice sufficiency, and to even generate foreign exchange earnings from exports of the staple grain.

By achieving 100 percent self-sufficiency in rice, Loren said the country will not be at the mercy of the wild fluctuations in the price of rice in the international market.

Likewise, she said the government must ensure that agricultural support funds must reach their intended beneficiaries and not be lost to corruption.

On Tuesday, President Arroyo has announced that her administration had put in place a multi-billion peso support program for agriculture called FIELDS to boost agricultural productivity as well as to improve the condition of farmers.

"There is nothing wrong with Malacanang's concern for our farmers. After all, they need every help the government can extend to boost their produce," she said.

"But it must see to it that those investments will be spent for where they are intended, or they will be just be wasted funds," Loren said.

Only recently, a report released by the Commission on Audit revealed that the Department of Agriculture (DA) failed to show proofs of where the vegetable seeds and farm inputs went.

Loren also scored government's pronouncement that "the farmers are getting the investment they need." She said government must live up to its promise to pour in huge investment and ensure its full implementation if the country is to achieve rice self-sufficiency.

"We've been hearing about that supposed help for our farmers for years. Where did it end? We still import rice, in fact we're one of the world's biggest importers of rice. It's sad because ours is an agricultural land," she lamented.

The Philippines was once self-sufficient in terms of rice production, and even exported the same following the rice production revolution instigated by the IRRI in the early 70s.

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