AGRICULTURE

TALAKAG, Bukidnon - Vegetable farmers of this cool mountain town will ship between 40 to 60 tons of high value vegetables to Metro Manila weekly starting this month at lower prices than those coming from the North.The farmers made the commitment after I pledged P20-M in Easy Access Credit which they could use in buying the local produce.The supplies from Talakag could drastically bring down the prices of vegetables in Metro Manila markets.When I visited Talakag Sunday, large carrots were priced P55 per kilo, White Potato P30 per kilo, Cabbage P12 to P20 per kilo and Broccoli and Cauliflowe

KORONADAL CITY--- Rice farmers who belong to several Irrigators' and farmers' associations in Central Mindanao received yesterday 18 units of new hauling trucks worth P28-M in a turn-over ceremony in this city.Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol led the distribution of the Hino 6-wheeler cargo trucks during the First Rice Program Stakeholders' Congress.These hauling trucks will be used by the IAs/FAs in the operations of their Rice Processing Centers.

CALAWIT ISLAND, Busuanga, Palawan, - Tagbanua tribal chief Apo Fidel Mondragon was teary-eyed when he met me and my team at the elementary school grounds of his village where a small helicopter dropped me off for the visit to the island yesterday.

MAGUINDANAO --- Malacañang has intensified its bid to empower farmers in Maguindanao province to insulate them from militants hyping poverty as reason to revolt and join their fold.Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said Thursday another farming equipment package had been released to the provincial government of Maguindanao to complement its programs meant to improve the productivity of farmers vulnerable to recruitment by violent religious extremists operating in the fashion of the Islamic State.The package consisted of dozens of water pumps, hand tractors, motorized hand tillers and egg

TUPI, South Cotabato – Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Pinol on Monday distributed about P168 million worth of farm machinery and various post-harvest facilities to farmers’ organizations in Region 12. Speaking during the turn over ceremonies at the Department of Agriculture (DA) Research and Experiment Station in Barangay Bululmala, Tupi, South Cotabato, Pinol emphasized the importance of agricultural activity in the region as his department is looking for rice sufficiency in the next 4 years. We have enough water, sunlight we are so blessed wth our natural resources, Pinol said.

The country's rice production increased by 203,000 metric tons in the First Quarter of 2018 compared to the same period last year and the projection is that the total output for this year will be higher than the 2017 production of 19.267-million metric tons which was the highest in the country's history.The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), using data provided by the EAS Sentinel 1A satellite to the Philippine Rice Information System (PRISM), reported that the rice production for the First Quarter of 2018 was at 4,622,979 tons compared to 2017 First Quarter production of 4,419,267 or a

MANILA--The total harvest area for palay nationwide may widen by nearly 32,000 hectares in the first half of the year from the year-ago level, possibly lifting national rice production by 1.2 percent, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) has projected.The PSA sees the country's total palay harvest area reaching 2.13 million hectares for January to June this year, 31,960 hectares or 1.53 percent higher than last year's 2.1 million hectares.Harvest area is the actual area, where a crop like palay was or will be harvested during a reference period, the PSA explained.The statistics agency

COTABATO CITY -- A new priority program of the Department of
Agriculture (DA) is set to bolster a specific industry in the country.

The Halal Food Industry Development
Program (HFIDP) was officially launched here on April 2, 2018 as a banner
program of the DA.

The launching of the program was
anchored on Republic Act 10817 otherwise known as the Philippine Halal Export
Development and Promotion Act of 2016.

ISULAN, Sultan Kudarat -- President Rodrigo Duterte has urged the Land Bank of the Philippines to offer farmers soft loans after handing them their certificates of Land Ownership Award (CLOA) here Monday.Speaking after the distribution program, Duterte said the country remains to be basically agriculture and the farmers are the country's front liners in providing food to every Filipinos.

KIDAPAWAN CITY -- The office of the provincial agriculturist (OPA) in North Cotabato has embarked on doing further studies of an old cereal variety, which could replace rice as staple Filipino food.The variety is called, adlay, which the OPA considers as a healthy cereal, and best alternative to rice.