(MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
In year number two of Republic Act (RA) 11203 or the RTL, the DA said that the country’s rice sector is “gradually realizing its potentials”, as it noted that palay (unhusked rice) production and farmgate prices have increased this dry season.
This has resulted in more affordable rice for consumers amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the agency said.
“To top it all, with sustained initiatives and strong cooperation of various rice industry stakeholders, we look forward to achieving an all-time record of at least 20.4 million MT (metric tons) of palay this year,” DA Sec. William Dar said in a statement.
Press Release
Senate to President Duterte: Withdraw EO lowering tariffs on pork imports
THE Senate on Thursday unanimously adopted a resolution urging President Rodrigo Duterte to withdraw Executive Order (EO) 128 that lowers the tariff on pork imports.
A total of 18 senators manifested their support for the resolution including Senator Francis Kiko Pangilinan, who reiterated the call for Malacañang to urgently declare a state of calamity due to the African swine fever (ASF). Declaring a state of calamity is important because we have to free up funds from the calamity fund to provide the necessary support. The Secretary of Agriculture has already said he needs 8.6 billion pesos for 2021 to address the swine fever and he only has 2.6 or 4 billion pesos. Kulang pa. Saan niya kukunin yon? Pangilinan said.
April 14, 2021
Since the 1980s a consensus has grown that rent-seeking and restrictive trade and regulatory policies have hindered the Philippine rice sector. Filipino consumers were paying more for a kilogram of rice than any of their ASEAN neighbors, yet farmers in the Philippines remained the poorest sector in the country. There were various efforts by international donors, multilateral agencies, and local leaders to reform the sector, but none had stellar results.
That is, until 2019, when the unexpected happened. The Duterte administration successfully passed the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL), which removed the quantitative restrictions on rice imports and replaced them with a tariff. But the story didn’t end with the passage of the law. Immediately after the RTL was enacted, there was a sustained, concerted effort to reverse it. The resistance to the RTL, and the lobbying to revert to the old status quo, were so intense that at certain points it appeared that the law wou
Rice farmer training program graduates top 25,000 bworldonline.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from bworldonline.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
(UNSPLASH / MANILA BULLETIN)
In a statement on Wednesday, April 7, the agency said rice farmers and their dependents have undergone training on farmers field school on production of high-quality inbred rice and seed certification, and farm mechanization; rice machinery operations, drying and milling plant servicing; service motorcycle and small engine system; and, solar powered irrigation system operation and maintenance.
TESDA said some of the graduates also received training on carpentry, electrical installation and maintenance, welding and masonry. The training will equip the recipients to attend to their warehouses or their farm machineries, especially when minor repair work is needed.
It was in September 2019, when TESDA Secretary Isidro Lapeña signed a circular detailing the implementing guidelines on RESP activities to be carried out by the agency through its regional and provincial offices.