With super typhoon Karding the latest storm to batter the country, AGRI Party-list Rep. Wilbert T. Lee underscored the crucial role those post-harvest facilities such as storage for grain and seeds play in making farming communities more resilient to disasters.
“We must stop this vicious cycle where our farmers always register losses because of the lack of storage and other facilities to mitigate the effects of typhoons,” said Lee.
In this 19th Congress, Lee filed House Bill No. 3958 or the “Post-Harvest Facilities Support Act” compelling the government to construct and provide post-harvest facilities across the country, especially in agricultural areas.
“Kaya’t kailangang madagdagan ang budget ng DA para sa post-harvest facilities para matugunan ang problemang ito,” he added.
The Department of Agriculture warned on Sunday that more than half of standing or planted rice and corn crops in the country stood to be affected by the typhoon.
“Based on the combined data of all regions in Luzon, the area of standing crops that may be affected by Karding totals 1,469,037 hectares for rice and 281,322 hectares for corn,” the DA said in a bulletin.
The figures make up 75.83 percent of the national standing rice crops and 52.37 percent of the national standing corn crops, it added.
Last week, the lawmaker questioned the DA on why the agency continued to propose low budgets for post-harvest activities despite the recurring problems of farmers in this phase of the agriculture value chain.
During the period of debate in the plenary for the DA’s budget for 2023, it was determined that while P59.96 billion was proposed for pre-harvest activities, only P13 billion was allocated for post-harvest facilities.
“Even if the budget for post-harvest activities is doubled, the strategic problem remains. This is not to say that production is not important. Napakahalaga po niyan dahil kung wala iyan, walang produktong papasok sa merkado. Kailangan talaga ng ating mga magsasaka at mangingisda ng tulong dahil patuloy na nagsisipagtaasan ang presyo ng equipment, fertilizer, at iba pang farm inputs,” Lee, the lead interpellator of the minority bloc for the DA budget, said.
“However, even if we assume that our agri inputs reach our farmers, which currently remains one of your agency’s challenges, and fortunately increase their productivity, we still have to deal with the problem of getting these products ready for the market and consumers,” he added.
According to Lee, the agriculture sector grew by only 0.2% for the first two quarters of this year, which is why there is an urgent need to support our post-harvest phase. It was during this point that he called on the DA to recalibrate and restrategize the country’s agriculture value chain to address the sector’s low production.
The Department of Agriculture warned on Sunday that more than half of standing or planted rice and corn crops in the country stood to be affected by the typhoon.
“Huwag nating bawasan ang agri inputs, pero dagdagan at ipantay natin ang suporta sa post-harvest para masiguro natin na makakaabot nang maayos sa merkado at sa publiko ang produkto ng ating magsasaka at mangingisda. Kung hindi pa kasi lumabas sa media o nag-viral sa social media ang ganitong problema, hindi pa ito mapapansin at gagawan ng paraan,” Lee pointed out.
“Like for instance, sa Batanes, nagkaroon ng oversupply ng bawang. Yung luya sa Aritao, Nueva Vizcaya, dumating sa punto na binebenta na lang ito ng P100 kada limang kilo. Ilang beses din nating nabalitaan yung mga magsasaka ng repolyo at kamatis, sinisira na lang ang ani kesa ibenta. Nakakapanlumo na hinahayaan nating mangyari itong kawalan o mababang kita ng mga magsasaka dahil hindi sila konektado sa consumers,” Lee added.
In this 19th Congress, Lee filed House Bill No. 3958 or the “Post-Harvest Facilities Support Act” compelling the government to construct and provide post-harvest facilities across the country, especially in agricultural areas, to lower post-harvest production losses and increase the income of agriculture workers.
“Karapat-dapat lamang na bigyan ng pondo ang post-harvest. Hindi lang ang mga magsasaka at mangingisda ang makikinabang kundi pati mga consumers. Winner tayo lahat.
