PRDP RPCO V I-PLAN Component Head Aloha Gigi I. Bañaria discusses the top provincial priority commodities identified by the Department of Agriculture Region V in the recasted fiscal year (FY) 2017 plan and budget. (Photo by Annielyn L. Baleza, DA-PRDP RPCO V InfoACE Unit) PRDP-Bicol’s priority commodities support mission to ensure food security
“Ensuring available and affordable food.” This, according to Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol, is the new mission of the Department. According to Piñol, to make food available, the agri-fishery sector must boost production enough to feed 105 million Filipinos. He also said that production cost must be reduced while people’s income-earning capacity must be raised to make food affordable.
In support to this mission, the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP)-Bicol will focus on priority commodities that will help ensure the country’s food security. During the 1st Semester Assessment and 2nd Semester Planning Workshop of PRDP-Bicol’s planning team (I-PLAN) held in Naga City on July 28-29, 2016, I-PLAN Component Head Aloha Gigi I. Bañaria announced the top provincial priority commodities identified by the Department in the recast fiscal year (FY) 2017 plan and budget.
For Albay, focus will be given on rice, corn, goat (dairy), lowland vegetables, and plantation crops such as pili and cacao; for Camarines Norte, rice corn, queen pineapple, lowland vegetables and swine; and for Camarines Sur, rice, corn, lowland vegetables, plantation crops, and livestock and poultry (dairy cattle and native chicken). On the other hand, Catanduanes’ priority commodities are rice, lowland vegetables, native chicken, large ruminants such as carabao and cattle and plantation crops. Likewise, Masbate will concentrate on rice, corn, lowland vegetables, root crops such as sweet potato and cassava and small and large ruminants like dairy goat and carabao. Meanwhile, Sorsogon will boost its rice, cassava, lowland vegetables, dairy animals and plantation crops production.
Bañaria encouraged PRDP-Bicol’s provincial partners to align their value chain analysis and commodity investment plans on the said identified commodities. I-PLAN will conduct PRDP re-orientation, focus group discussion, investment forum and trainings to support this undertaking.
Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) shows that Bicol has the largest agricultural area of 892,000 hectares nationwide. Also, the region ranks second in terms of people employed in the agriculture sector. Piñol eyes Bicol as an agricultural giant–an emerging supplier of food for the country especially Metro Manila. (Annielyn L. Baleza, DA-PRDP RPCO V InfoACE Unit)
