Skip to main content

05, The More The Merrier – PH 17 Provinces Lead Agriculture & Fisheries Extension System

Yes, under PH Secretary of Agriculture William Dar, the Department of Agriculture(DA) will have 17 provinces leading the DA program “Province-Led Agriculture & Fisheries Extension System” (PAFES) nationwide, when in full initial blast, 1 lead province in each of the 17 regions of the Philippines, and here they are, from North to South:

Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR)
Ilocos Region (Region 1)
Cagayan Valley (Region 2)
Central Luzon (Region 3)
National Capital Region (NCR)
Calabarzon (Region 4-A)
Mimaropa (Region 4-B)
Bicol Region (Region 5)
Western Visayas (Region 6)
Central Visayas (Region 7)
Eastern Visayas (Region 8)
Zamboanga Peninsula (Region 9)
Northern Mindanao (Region 10)
Davao Region (Region 11)
Soccsksargen (Region 12)
Caraga (Region 13)
Bangsamoro (BARMM)

But isn’t that too many leads – you know, “Too many cooks spoil the broth”?

No. The variations in the cooking will be minimal. Science works if you follow the rules – and it will be the same science from Region 1 (Ilocos) to Region 13 (Caraga). (Bangsamoro would/should know what is good for the Muslims.)
(upper image from DA website, lower image[1]from Facebook page of ATI)

Previously, there was this news release, “DA To Pursue Systematic, Strategic Approaches To Further ‘Grow’ (Agriculture & Fisheries Sectors)[2]” (23 December 2020). That is, to “fuel the transformation of the agriculture and fishery (sectors to help propel the Philippines) into a modernized and industrialized economic powerhouse.”

Mr Dar said in his memo to all top DA officials and key technical staff:

We shall depart from our usual approach of just targeting individual farms or groups without producing significant outcomes from interventions. We must be purpose-driven, ensuring that our programs and projects are of value, not only to recipients but more significantly to the whole society in real terms.

The last sentence is of extra-significant value I will repeat:

“We must be… ensuring that our programs and projects are of value… to the whole society in real terms.”

That is why I say: Stop the pursuit of Solo Success Stories! They are anathema to whole-Philippines progress.

The news release said:

At the core of this strategy is farm clustering and consolidation, dubbed as “Bayanihan Agri-Cluster” or BAC that aims to converge and integrate government interventions such as provision of loans, farm mechanization, free seeds and fertilizers, and market support.

Yes, the DA will be providing farmers’ access to loans and farm machines – the seeds, fertilizers, and market support will be free.

The news release also said:

The establishment of “agri-industrial business corridors” or ABCs will also be actively pursued in 2021. These hubs will serve as processing and marketing centers of agriculture and fishery products in identified production areas. All set to groundbreak is the ABC at New Clark Green City.

Mr Dar said, “The ABCs will house agri-business and multi-purpose facilities that will be key to managing and integrating the food supply chain, as well as introducing innovative agricultural (technologies) to farmers.”

The ABCs are designed to serve the whole alphabet of services to Philippine agriculture and fisheries!@517


[1]https://www.facebook.com/atirtc12/photos/2804726853101167

[2]https://www.da.gov.ph/da-to-pursue-systematic-strategic-approaches-to-further-grow-agri-fishery-sector/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Secretary William Dar Dreams Of A PH Database On Agriculture, ADING – Perfect Match For OpAPA!

On 27 January 2021, the press release came out from the Department of Agriculture (DA) titled “DA Taps State Schools For Food Security Policy Research Projects [1] , ” data-gathering efforts commonly aiming at creating a regional database for agricultural and rural development, urgently for national food security. The collaboration is another initiative of the DA under its Agriculture Dialogue and Information Network Groups (ADING) Program “that aims to further strengthen and improve public trust and confidence in the Department.” Note: “Ading” in Ilocano means “younger sibling.” Now, not only the aim but the name is perfect – I am thinking of the 17-year old proposal of Mr Dar himself that he called “ Open Academy for Philippine Agriculture” (OpAPA), which he advocated in 2003 when he was still Director General of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) – with ADING and OpAPA 2021, we have a family of science knowledge banks with Mr Dar as fathe
Post a Comment
Read more

Historical PH 1st Holy Mass: Mazaua Or Limasawa? Fr Amalla Vs Maria Serena Diokno Vs Ambeth Ocampo – And The Priest Is Right!

We Filipinos celebrate 500 years of Christianity today Wednesday, 31 March 2021, Christianity brought to pagans by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan sailing the seas for Spain. The historical question is: Where was the first Holy Mass celebrated: “Limasawa” (in Leyte) or “Mazaua” (in Butuan)? Catholic priest Fr Joesilo C Amalla has just published the book (above), An Island They Called Mazaua, that argues the island of “Mazaua” in Butuan is the “true site of first Holy Mass in the Philippines [1] ”  and not “Limasawa” in Leyte (ANN, 07 January 2021, Manila Times ). The declaration and discussion are made by Butuan-based Fr Amalla in his 644-page book. Among other things, he writes: The truth is that the prevailing state- and church-affirmation and multiple reaffirmations of the island of Limasawa as the site of that first Holy Mass have no factual, historical and geographic (bases) whatsoever nor any shred of evidentiary support from cartographic studies, navigational informat
Post a Comment
Read more

UPLB, Where Has All Your Extension Gone? Gone To Flowers Everyone! When Will They Ever Learn?

What do you mean “Extension”? Here is “Dean Umali’s Rule” as his colleagues remember it [1] : “When a farmer visits your office, stop everything you are doing and give him his due attention, for he is the primary commitment of your being in this institution.” What is known as “UPCA’s Golden Age of Extension” is 1959 to 1969, when Dioscoro L Umali was Dean of UPCA – that is according to Louise Sigrid Antonio et al writing 25 May 2014, “Dioscoro L Umali,” in their blog The Heat Ray Of Archimedes ). I was Freshman at UPCA when he became Dean in 1959; later, I remember UPCA agronomists really busy with national extension projects involving rice and corn. (top image [2]  from Philippine Science Heritage Center, Facebook ) On 20 November 1972, through Presidential Decree 58, the UP System was created, with UPLB as one of the universities in the system. Unfortunately, while the college UPCA grew into the university UP Los Baños, the Extension function grew out of the university until
Post a Comment
Read more