THE Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. (PCAFI) said government should channel the P32-billion stimulus package to productivity and value-added farm goods such as livestock and fishery and not just on rice and corn.
This was expressed by PCAFI president Danilo Fausto in a letter to Congress’ Economic Stimulus Response Package chairperson Joey Salceda and to Department of Agriculture Secretary William Dar.
Fausto said the P32-billion budget should primarily zero in on productivity initiatives in livestock, fishery, export-oriented fruits and vegetables that bring higher income.
“Focus should be on productivity, in time for the increasing demand and consumption towards the third and fourth quarter of 2020, as a result of the grand stimulus package in order for the Philippine economy to recover… While the P32 billion proposed supplemental budget will be of tremendous help to enable the agriculture stakeholders to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic that brought havoc to the industry, we feel it is inadequate and might leave the exclusions of concerns not properly addressed,” he said.
PCAFI said funds should also be allocated to logistics to move fish and agriculture goods, not only in Luzon but also in Mindanao.
“There is an obvious slant towards rice and corn. Aside from rice, livestock, fishery and aquaculture need help. The ASF (African swine fever) task force are running out of kits and lack veterinarians to monitor the livestock industry. There is a need to provide support on a consistent manner not only when disease outbreaks occur,” Fausto said.
He added government should channel a P1.5-billion budget to more value-added dairy, poultry, hogs, fisheries and feed crops instead of programs such as urban agriculture (P500 million); personal protective equipment (P500 million); corn for food project (P300 million; and information, education and communications (P200 million).
PCAFI noted the need to implement projects that will encourage meat processors to use local supply
Fausto also called for the inclusion of stimulus budget for agricultural producers, processors and suppliers of raw materials for high value fruits, vegetables and other commodities for export and local markets must be made.
Programs to make corn for animal feed more competitive even during rainy season to ensure consistent supply and quality to the poultry or livestock sectors aside from the production of animal feeds including copra and coconut oil, palm oil and production of fish oil and fish meal as an alternative to the imported soybean meal for protein content of feeds must be considered.
Fausto also mentioned that other things that should also be allocated with funds must include the establishment of more laboratories; improvement of irrigation system; procurement of fertilizers; initial planning for the Balik Probinsya resettlement program; unconditional crop insurance to local palay producers; and price support and subsidy to rice farmers guaranteeing minimum purchase price of palay at P17 per kilo.
“Credit guarantees should be focused towards the agriculture sector where banks shied away due to the risk inherent to food production. Guarantees should also be provided for suppliers of inputs who provide credit to farmer producers especially the small and medium livestock owners majority of which are asking for a reprieve on their payables due to huge losses,” the PCAFI chief concluded.
