DA prepares new ‘game plan’ for agri sector

The Department of Agriculture (DA) is gearing up to launch a new game plan aimed at improving and modernizing agricultural and food production in the country.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel, Jr. said on Tuesday, Jan. 2, that he will introduce this year’s strategy to modernize agriculture and enhance farm production capacity in the coming week.

Laurel said the plan would benefit the local economy, enhance the livelihoods of farmers and fisherfolk, and potentially inspire more individuals to pursue careers in agriculture.

He admitted that 2024, with the looming threat of the El Niño phenomenon, will be “a very challenging year.”

“As I told you last time, all eyes are trained on us, more on me probably because I’m the new agriculture secretary,” Laurel said to the DA employees.

He also told the agriculture agency that full cooperation is a must in addressing the food production challenge, especially as the El Niño phenomenon approaches in the first quarter of 2024.

“The entire country expects that we could feed them and that we will try to bring commodity prices down,” he added.

The DA is also expected to achieve food security and lessen food production imports.

Since the beginning of his term in November, Laurel met with various agriculture officials, farmers, fisherfolk, and stakeholders, as well as inaugurated new irrigation and other facilities.

“[This] determines a better course of action and gathers support to achieve President Ferdinand Marcos’ vision of a modern farm sector and better lives for farmers and fishermen,” DA reported.

Subsequently, the agriculture chief emphasized the need for more timely farm and market statistics and other modern technologies like enhancing farm mechanization.

“Very soon, we will have that program – possibly in the next 10 days – that we will cascade to everyone,” he said.

“Basically, a lot of things need to be done. We need to do this with a sense of urgency because there are only four years left in the administration of President Marcos. And we also have to change the perception of Filipinos, that we can produce more food for our country,” the DA chief added.

The increased local production would bring money to the pockets of Filipino farmers and fisherfolk instead of relying on commodities sourced abroad.

The agriculture chief believes, “this would fuel investment in the agriculture sector that employs four in every 10 Filipinos.” — Gabriel Christel Galang