LEGAZPI CITY—For topping all provinces in the 2009 national performance evaluation of FIELDS, Department of Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap announced a new P48-million funding for the irrigation priorities of Albay.  

FIELDS stands for Fields, Irrigation, Extension (and education and trainings), Loans, Dryers and other postharvest facilities and Seeds. It is the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) banner program designed to hike rice production and make the country self-sufficient in rice.

Dr. Frisco Malabanan of the Philippine Rice Research Institute said the DA has commissioned a three-member panel from the University of the Philippines in Los Baños (UPLB) and the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study in Research and Agriculture (Searca) to undertake the nationwide evaluation.

Malabanan said the UPLB-Searca team, headed by Dr. Flordeliza Lantican, conducted a  rapid assessment of the FIELDS program from July 26 to 31 in five FIELDS areas in Albay, including the towns of Camalig, Oas, Libon, Polangui and Tabaco City.

Since the implementation of the FIELDS program, Malabanan noted that Albay, under the leadership of Gov. Joey Salceda who is also a presidential economic adviser, has significantly increased its rice output  by 23 percent.

The evaluation, which included field interviews with farmers, focus group discussions, on-site visitations and data analysis revealed that Albay farmers were highly satisfied by the way their Provincial Agricultural Services Office (Paso) oversees the FIELDS program.   

After the five-day evaluation, GMA rice coordinator Ernesto de la Torre said the UPLB-Searca panel was impressed by the very transparent manner Paso implements FIELDS in Albay and how farmer-cooperators in the province respond to the program.
De la Torre cited FIELDS farmer cooperator Rodolfo Tuanqui of Napo, Polangui town, who said he was very satisfied with the support and assistance he got from Paso. His 5-hectare rice land is now a model farm using hybrid-certified seeds and other modern farm technologies.

Tuanqui said the 50-percent subsidy support that Paso extends to them, at the instance of Salceda, has significantly helped them make farming a truly viable enterprise,

The FIELDS program implementation in Albay, Tuanqui said, is a complete package for rice farmers who avail themselves of loan packages, technical and extension services and subsidies, as well as marketing and other postproduction benefits.

With Albay having topped the recent FIELDS national evaluation, Paso chief Ruben Limos said he expects local farmers to reap more benefits in terms of increased farm support, other subsidies and equipment to further strengthen and improve the implementation of the program in his province.