With Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte’s vow to ensure food security in Davao City amid an impending global food crisis, the Davao City Agriculturist’s Office (CAGRO) is gearing up its plans and programs directed toward the increased production of crops such as rice and corn to deliver the promise of food security to the people of Davao City.
In an interview with the City Information Office Thursday, the new CAGRO Head Edgardo A. Haspe said that the office’s programs and projects that are geared towards food production are currently being boosted as the national government warned of a looming food deficit.
“The national government is anticipating a deficit in the food supply in the next two quarters. So meaning to say, diha naa’y (there will be a) shortage. Ang among challenge diri (The challenge for us)—kay kami man in-charge sa crops so mao gyud na ang challenge sa amo (since we are in charge of the crops so this is really a challenge for us)—unsaon pag-increase ang (how to increase the) production sa rice and corn,” Haspe said.
Staple food, such as corn and rice, will be at the center of CAGRO’s boosted food production efforts. Along with this, Haspe said that the office’s budget allocation for food production programs will be increased to improve the city’s food sufficiency and helping residents brace for the looming food crisis and reducing the city’s dependency on importations.
“Kay diri sa Davao City, need nato per day og 10,000 bags para mafeed nato ang population. Og ang atong buffer, based sa production nato sa siyudad na wala ra kaabot 1,000 atong rice areas, abot lang og 14 days ang atong buffer for the whole year. So the rest of that, gina-outsource na nato; outsource nato sa laing province and at the same time sa imported na rice (Because here in Davao City, we need 10,000 bags of rice to feed the entire population. And our buffer for the whole year, based on current production from less than 1,000 rice areas in the city, is only 14 days. So the rest of that, we outsource from other provinces and, at the same time, on imported rice),” Haspe added.
Haspe said that the CAGRO is currently planning to expand the city’s rice areas in the highlands to boost rice production. He added that the production of corn is promising due to the significant number of farmers who shifted to corn farming as the price of the produce increased. He said that banana farmers who were hit by the fusarium wilt disease years prior have chosen to instead plant corn due to its high market price and cost-efficient production.
Aside from increasing the staple food production, the CAGRO is also boosting other ongoing agriculture programs geared toward food security. These include the quarterly distribution of fish fingerlings to fish farmers in the highlands, and the distribution of seeds and seedlings. He said Davao City is now regularly producing seedlings to be distributed to Dabawenyo farmers. The CAGRO has also distributed over 1,000 sacks of fertilizer assistance to vegetable farmers since April. Fertilizers and seeds have more than tripled in market prices since January, in conjunction with the rising fuel prices.
“Kasagaran sa program nato is maghatag og support para sa atong mga farmers, labi na sa fertilizers and seeds, plus ang atong mga seedlings; gi-improve ang atong programs karon na year. Naga-produce ta og seedlings og naga-procure ta og seeds. At the same time, naga-procure pud ta og fingerlings para sa atong fish farmers. So kana atong ginatutukan kay, definitely, it’s going to full-proof food security. So we are going to continue that ‘no and even increase our proposed budget (Most of our programs provide support for our farmers most especially on fertilizers and seeds, plus or seedlings; we improved these programs for this year. We are producing seedlings and procuring seeds. At the same time, we are also producing fingerlings for our fish farmers,” said the CAGRO Head.
On the other hand, the CAGRO remains committed to championing the rights and interests of local farmers as it is also set to open the P70-million Davao Food Terminal Complex (DFTC) this year. Haspe said that the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) has already been approved by the DFTC Executive Committee on June 28 and that the office is currently waiting for the Executive Order mandating the implementation of the IRR.
According to the CAGRO Head, the DFTC is a “wholesale facility” where farmers can sell the bulk of their produce without having to bargain and settle for lower prices from distributors and retailers. CAGRO is also set to lobby the 20th City Council for the budget of Davao City’s first Rice-Processing Center in Malagos; which Haspe said will increase the net profit of local rice farmers.
The initial design for a proposed P6-million Bio N Laboratory (a nitrogen processing facility for soil nutrients production) is also being finalized by the office. CIO
