OpinionsEye OpenerEnsuring safe food for all

Ensuring safe food for all

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After 30 years in government service, serving in various capacities at the City government of Dumaguete, the Provincial government of Negros Oriental, the National Economic Development Authority, the defunct Ministry of Human Settlements and the Office of the Prime Minister, I have decided to retire effective Jan. 31, 2018 for family-related reasons.

This State of Agriculture Report is my 10th and will be the last report since I assumed office as City Agriculturist of Dumaguete on July 16, 2008. 

Agriculture and OCA
Sustainable agriculture signifies sustainable food security. The Office of the City Agriculturist always highlights its vital role in the provision and distribution of rudimentary agricultural services and in guaranteeing the stream of viable food security measures in order to assure the city’s residents of safe, nutritious, and sufficient food. 

Hunger, malnutrition
Dumaguete, through the Office of the City Agriculturist, is in the process of implementing the P2 million worth of Integrated Community Food Production program funded by the National Anti-Poverty Commission. ICFP skills training was conducted on Nov. 8-10.

NAPC tasks the Office of the City Agriculturist to implement the program in the City which aims to benefit 200 nutrition-deficient households in eight barangays: Tinago, Bagacay, Junob, Talay, Cadawinonan, Candau-ay, Batinguel, and Camanjac. 

The program will not only help poor people but will also fast-track the attainment of the City’s development goals to 1) reduce poverty by generating sustainable food for the poor, 2) address gender-related concerns since women will equally play an active role in producing food and providing income for the family, 3) promote education through massive training and capacity-building sessions, and 4) protect the environment by planting fruit trees and other crops that will serve as carbon sink, and by producing and using organic inputs, thereby eliminating the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers which are the source of nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas.

Organic fertilizer
The Indigenous Productivity Enhancers is a state-of-the art green economy initiative of the City. It facilitates the transformation of biodegradable wastes into organic fertilizers. 

With the IPE program, the City’s waste management capacities have been enhanced with the use and conversion of biodegradable trash into plant nutrients, strengthening organic farming processes resulting to various positive impacts to solid waste management efforts and to the sdpromotion of organically-grown agricultural products. The program increased crop production of local farmers, decongested the dumpsite that turned farm soil fertile thus, producing carcinogenic-free farm products. 

From January to Dec. 31, the City of Dumaguete through the City Agriculturist’s Office has collected a total of 55,945 kilos of fruit and vegetable wastes from the city’s public market, from Pinili Street vendors, and from the “Paunay” sa Provincial Agriculturist’s Office in Bgy. Daro, and also from local traders.

From the total number of kilos collected, the city was able to produce 1,193 bags or 47,720 kilos of IPE organic fertilizers which were distributed to farmers and to various public schools, an endeavor subsidized the cost of crop production.

During the year, we began utilizing the unwanted hasang (fish gills). About 400 kilos a day were gathered from the city public market which helped increase the yield and overall quality of various vegetable crops at the farm site of Engr. John Wesley Gayo in Banilad, Dumaguete. 

Fish gills’ waste can be used in the production of fish amino acids which are necessary in the production of crops.  They are fundamental ingredients in the process of protein synthesis and they influence the physiological activities of a plant.

The practice of dumping discarded fish gills into the sea is dangerous because these fish gills are frequently consumed, with often fatal effects, by marine mammals, fish, and birds that mistake it for food. 

Plow Now-Pay-Later
This program maximized agricultural area development and ensured the realization of the food security agenda. Some 80.5 hectares of agricultural lands, including 33.5 hectares of idle lots (planted with high value commercial crops e.g. corn and assorted vegetables) have become productive.

High-value crops
A banner program of the City Agriculturist’s Office, this endeavor helped address the issue on food security, alleviated poverty, provided sustainable growth and assisted in the production and marketing of high value crops. Strategically, the program helped to increase income, create livelihood opportunities, and contribute to the agricultural development of the city.

For rice, 28 hectares have been developed which engaged 30 rice farmers. These covered six barangays and yielded a total production of 105 metric tons. 

For corn, 216 hectares have been developed with a total production of 244.4 metric tons involving 250 farmers in 12 barangays. 

For vegetable production, 340 farmers have been served with a total production of 165.7 metric tons in an area of 46.2 hectares covering 13 barangays. 

For mango production, the City monitored and provided technical assistance to 448 mango growers having 580 fruit-bearing mango trees with a total production of 167 metric tons. Also, banana has been planted on a 9.04 hectare land area with 51 farmers served in 13 barangays with a total production of 15.6 metric tons.

Livestock breeding, AI
The City conducted 525 artificial insemination activities and inducing services to cattle, carabaos, goats, and swine in 26 barangays. These services produced 2,721 offsprings. The City also provided 189 health care services to 687 livestock animals benefiting 339 livestock raisers.  Moreover, some 65 natural breeding services were conducted to cattle and goats.

Marine fisheries
The City Tilapia Breeding Station produced and dispersed 14,050 pieces of tilapia fingerlings to 42 fish farmers covering 2,810 sqm. These production and dispersal activities sustained livelihood of fish farmers and ensured the continued productivity of fishery resources.

The City also provided technical assistance which sustained 1.6 hectares of milkfish production in Bgy. Banilad with 35 fishermen-beneficiaries.

For marine fisheries, the City extended technical assistance and monitoring activities to the following livelihood projects funded by the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Fisheries & Aquatic for 12 fishermen’s associations: 40 drift gillnets, 20 bottom set gillnets, 25 pumpboats, and various other fishery equipment provided under the Special Area for Agricultural Development (SAAD) project and national program on Targeted Actions to Reduce poverty & Generate Economic Transformation (TARGET) of the Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Fisheries & Aquatic Resources. 

Based on the monthly community-based fish-catch monitoring report, our fisher folks had a total catch of 43.89 MT of different fish species which are being sold locally and likewise utilized for household consumption.

Gulayan at Palaisdaan
This undertaking involves young people with the objective of promoting vegetable production and inland fishery development aiming to provide additional food supply to the City’s nutrition feeding programs, thereby reducing the incidence rates of malnutrition in public schools. 

During the period, the City Agriculturist’s Office provided technical and input assistance to GPAK projects in 17 public schools involving 1,020 students, and developed some 4.0 hectares of agricultural land into a GPAK community project.

During the period, the City Agriculture Office introduced the hydroponic system of vegetable production in Junob High School and at the Ramon Teves Pastor Memorial – Dumaguete Science High School. 

Hydroponics is the cultivation of plants by placing the roots in liquid nutrient solutions rather than in soil. It is the method of growing plants without soil.

Brgy Agri Devt Center
The Barangay Agricultural Development Center is a community-based approach to development. It serves as a training center for agriculture and fishery development, as well as a venue for convergence of government and non-government services.

The BDAC in Bgy. Cantil-e was completed and turned-over to the barangay farmers on June 16, costing P900,000. The City provided most of the funds to construct the building (P610,000). The Province of Negros Oriental contributed P290,000 to build this farmers’ center. Gratitude is also expressed to the donor of the 300 sqm lot, Bgy. Kag. Danny Inquig and his wife.

Fish Landing Center
The BFAR provided P3 million for the construction of the Community Fish Landing Center in Canday-ong, Calindagan. The City, through Mayor Remollo, also allocated P3.8 million as additional funds to establish the said center. Preparations for the construction of the center is ongoing.

Private-Public Partnership

The City Agriculturist’s Office keeps pursuing focused and sustainable agricultural development undertakings in tactical production areas, and in reinforcing alliances and joint ventures through various Barangay Councils, Barangay Agricultural Development Centers, rural—based agricultural and fisheries organizations, provincial and national government agencies, and the private entities geared towards the production of revenue-generating crops and livelihood initiatives that mitigate poverty.

Currently, the Office of City Agriculturist continues to move on against all odds. Despite several weather-related disasters that have taken their toll on agricultural production, the City’s agriculture sector continues to survive. This segment of the economy can only continue to confront the challenges if the City’s constituency as a people are fully-geared towards extensive cooperation through the cultivation of a shift in values within society, grounded on a more profound appreciation of the repercussions of City-wide interdependence for the achievement of its objectives.

________________________________

Author’s email: [email protected]

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