Page 3 - Danilo Fausto News Today

A farmers’ group yesterday urged the government to implement the interventions needed to achieve 97.5-percent rice sufficiency in five years, as envisioned by President Marcos through the Masagana Rice Industry Development Program.

Critics of the Maharlika Investment Fund slammed yesterday what they described as the bill’s hasty approval, raising concerns over conflicting provisions and potential legal and constitutional issues.

The National Dairy Administration said the government plans to increase local milk production by 500 percent by producing 80 million liters a year in order to meet the country’s demand.

Farmers’ group Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura warned yesterday that the retail price of onions could reach as high as P500 to P700 per kilo amid the abrupt spike in the cost of the bulbs.

Palay production in Nueva Ecija, the rice granary of the country, will drop by 30 percent if the super diversion canal in the province will not be repaired, according to a group of irrigators.

The latest PSA reading showed agriculture and fisheries production grew 2.1 percent to P426.69 billion in the first quarter

The value of the Philippine agricultural and fisheries sector bounced back in the first quarter of the year  following the positive performance of all subsectors, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.

Another farmers’ group yesterday questioned the implementation of the Support to Parcelization of Land for Individual Titling of the Department of Agrarian Reform, saying it encourages farmer beneficiaries of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program to sell their land to developers.

The leader of farmers’ group Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. yesterday backed the government’s decision to sell at least 12,000 metric tons of seized smuggled sugar at Kadiwa stores, contradicting the earlier position of the Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura.

The Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. warned that the retail price of pork – which hit as high as P420 per kilo in Metro Manila markets yesterday – could further increase following reports of a looming shortage due to the African swine fever.