LA TRINIDAD, Benguet—Eleven years since its inception, benefits from the Agricultural and Fisheries Modernization Act (Afma) have yet to be felt by farmers and fishermen.

“We, the stakeholders, have not felt the impact of Afma, but time and again, agriculture secretaries come for consultation, and it stays that way. I hope Congress will see to its implementation,” said Jose Andiso, Cordillera regional president of the Farmers’ Federation.

Palawan Rep. and head of the House Committee on Agriculture Abraham Khalil Mitra in recent consultation with officials and farmers in the region, heard this sentiment repeated throughout the session.

Mitra said Congress is now conducting a nationwide consultation for the validation of the Afma and its successes or failures in order to tune it up based on what legislators hear from the concerned sectors themselves.

“Speaker Prospero Nograles sent us to consult with your governors, congressmen, agriculturists and, most important, you, the farmers—those who really feed us—on problems and needs. You tell us,” Mitra said.

“Afma was a law since July 28, 1997, with P20 billion as initial funding and an allocation of P17 billion every year,” Mitra said.

But from 1997 to 2007, there has been a shortage of P48 billion, and only in 2008 did the Afma get its full allocation, said Rep. Robert Estrella, vice chairman of party-list Abono.

Mitra, however, had a salve for the farmers. “In 2009 agriculture will receive the second-highest budget, next to education, instead of defense,” he reassured.

In fact, because of the huge expected input of funds for food security, Mitra also said President Arroyo will appoint an agricultural Ombudsman as a deterrent for any misuse of the funds that should go to food security.

The congressional panel, composed of Mitra, Estrella and Nicanor Briones, vice chairman of party-list Agap,  reassured farmers that the purpose of the consultations is to ensure better income for farmers.

The responses and concerns ranged from irrigation, lack of extension workers, credit and budget, watershed neglect, low production during the rainy season, postharvest facilities, and rapid land conversion.

Mountain Province Gov. Maximo Dalog said while irrigation in itself is a problem, drainage when there is too much water is just as much of a problem. “We lose 30 percent of our main crops from floods during heavy rains,” he said.

On the matter of loans, Estrella explained that while there is an allocation for agricultural loans, the Department of Budget and Management has justified the lack of budget turned over to the Department of Agriculture (DA) in an alternative compliance by tying it up to Treasury bills instead.

Banks say farmers are high risk in terms of loan repayments. Estrella said Congress has asked the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to allow private banks to give agricultural loans to local governments.

La Trinidad municipal agriculturist Felicitas Ticbaen said that because of the devolution of extension workers to local governments, the position has not been mandatory, resulting in the lack of agricultural technicians and extension workers for high-value commercial crops (HVCC) in the region.

Mitra acknowledged that there were no funds for HVCC extension workers and promised to call the attention of the DA on this.

Benguet Gov. Nestor Fongwan said 65 percent to 85 percent of crops raised in the region are high temperate crops that will not withstand long periods of rain, and that there is a lack of greenhouses to extend the productive period of farmers here.

But Mitra did not encourage calls for subsidies, saying he would rather spend money on postharvest facilities and farm-to-market roads to improve food production. He said that based on informal computation, only one-fifth of the cost used to import food is needed to make the country self-sufficient.

Mitra also said that on the issue of land conversion, there is a need to revisit the provision of the Afma that agricultural land can be converted after five years. ‘’We must make another moratorium on conversion for another five years,” he said.

The Cordillera consultation was focused on highland vegetables. In Nueva Ecija it was on rice, coffee in Batangas and the main produce for each province and region.

APPROVED investments of foreign investors in the first quarter was not enough to pull up the amount of total approved investments in the said period, which declined by 6.3 percent, according to a report released by the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) on Thursday.

THE Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) is set to bid out the contract for the construction of the P10-billion Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) Terminal 2 in the third quarter of the year, with at least three foreign groups already making known their interest to build it.

THE Philippine government is eyeing to maintain the existing P25 per kilogram price for subsidized rice distributed by the National Food Authority (NFA) in public markets, an official of the NFA said.

THE country’s palay production during the lean months of July, August and September is expected to reach 3.45 million metric tons (MMT), or 9.5 percent higher than paddy production for the third quarter of 2007, according to the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS).

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet—Eleven years since its inception, benefits from the Agricultural and Fisheries Modernization Act (Afma) have yet to be felt by farmers and fishermen.

CABANATUAN CITY—Small and medium entrepreneurs and government officials here gave a thumbs-up sign Tuesday for the innovative food-processing product of a Nueva Ecija noodle maker.

LUCENA CITY—The provincial government of Quezon jump-started biofuel production in the country when Quezon Gov. Raffy Nantes signed on Wednesday a memorandum of agreement (MOA)  with the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP)and the Philippine National Oil Co.-Alternative Fuels Corp. (PNOC-AFC) for the massive production and processing of jatropha in the entire province.