While the commodity plan for Banana is nearing completion as the identified priority commodity of the province, Gov. LeopoldoDominico L. Petilla also expressed interest to include rice to be supported under the Philippine Rural Development Program (PRDP).

Governor Petilla said, “We need to sustain the gains we have achieved under the rice sector and make sure that more farmers adopt proper technology on rice cultivation in order to achieve much higher farm productivity.”

“We have already laid out our plans for rice. We feel indebted to rice farmers. Just as we were worried about the possible adverse impact of typhoon Yolanda on food production, it was the rice sector that gave us hope that our people will not experience hunger and whenever we see the bumper harvest by our farmers in this cropping, we are motivated to strive further in our efforts to recover fast from the devastation brought by the calamity,” he stressed.

The governor disclosed that by supporting the rice sector, he ultimately wants to see not only an increase in the volume of production but also to develop micro enterprises in the rural communities and hopefully, be able topenetrate theexport market.

Meanwhile, the sub project proposal on Banana focusing on the Sabavarietywhich is now subject for review by Governor Petilla shall be submitted within this month of July to the Department of Agriculture-8 in order to be reviewed by the Regional Program Coordination Office (RPCO) and correspondingly endorsed by the Regional Program Advisory Board (RPAB) to the PRDP Program Support Office for Visayas before the deadline on August, 2014. “We find it advantageous that we prioritize banana in the meantime, since much have been done on this already and that, there is a ready market in Baybay, Leyte if we are to look at developing this commodity in the light of the value chain approach,” he hinted.

As part of the preparations for the full-swing implementation of the PRDP, Petillaspearheaded the creation of the Provincial Program Management and Implementing Unit (PPMIU) and the Provincial Core Planning Team (PCPT) for the PRDP. He also expressed willingness to provide counterpart funds which will be required for the sub projects that will be implemented in the province.(Rodel G. Macapañas, InfoACE)