Yap calls for concerted efforts to hike global food production

Secretary Arthur Yap of the Department of Agriculture (DA) has renewed his call for concerted international action to increase agricultural production to meet the ever-rising global demand for food in the face of the mounting assault by climate change on the world’s farmlands and marine resources.
Yap first made this call during the recent World Food Day celebration, citing climate change as the No. 1 threat to global food security, which, he said, could plunge over one billion people worldwide deeper into hunger and poverty.
He said during a recent business forum that the DA is now “retooling” its budget program with the goal of funding priority programs that will help the agriculture and fisheries sector better cope with climate change as well as with the increasing global free trade as well.
Besides the Philippines ’ experience with typhoons “Ondoy” and “Pepeng,” which caused massive flooding in Metro Manila and Luzon’s food producing areas, Yap likewise pointed to the floods in south India , which damaged millions of hectares of cropland including ricelands. The widespread drought in north India also damaged their riceland and sugarcane plantations, ushering in a supply deficit of sugar in the world market, as examples of the devastating effects of climate change.
He noted that while south India was wallowing in floods, other regions in that country were suffering from drought, which led to a reduction of rice output by 10 million to 15 million tons and in other agricultural commodities as well.
Meanwhile, plant hopper infestations in Malaysia, Vietnam, China, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and South Korea, also threaten increased production of rice supply in the region, he said.
“As we confront today’s unpredictable and harsh weather, the Deutsche Bank further warns that current agricultural production may not be enough to meet the growing world food and fuel demand in the next 40 years which in terms of food volume, the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) has estimated must approximate close to double that of which we are producing today, to meet global population demands by then,” Yap said during the business forum.
To meet these challenges, Yap said that in the Philippines, the DA has reengineered its budget by allocating 86% of its P47 million appropriations to various support services, such as the provision of flatbed dryers, corn drying centrals, fishports, and storage warehouses for farm produce; market linkages; strengthening of regulatory and disease eradication capabilities; and the establishment of satellite-based remote sensing and geographic information systems.  
Moreover, he said, the DA is strengthening its statistics and forecasting capabilities; developing and distributing climate-ready crops seeds which are submergence, drought and disease tolerant; engineering climate change adapted infrastructure for production and processing; enabling more financing for agriculture through innovative weather-based insurance  schemes;  and disseminating more information, knowledge and training in crops science and planting techniques to farmers.
Consistent with the Arroyo administration’s goal of attaining rice sufficiency by 2013, Yap said the Department is allocating 36% of its total banner program budget to the GMA Rice Program, while fisheries, particularly aquaculture development, is programmed to absorb 32 % of the budget for programs  with a hefty P1 billion program for aquaculture in 2010.
Experts have warned the public that the underprivileged and malnourished stand to suffer most from the impact of the current global crisis, which threatens to diminish their access to safe, nutritious and affordable food owing to reduced livelihood and income opportunities, Yap said.
The crisis “is further compounded by high costs of food and profound changes in climate conditions, putting more stress on world’s food production and distribution systems,” he said.
He said earlier that this year’s World Food Day celebration highlighted the urgent need for a concerted multi-sectoral action to achieve food security and sufficiency for the benefit of everyone–the world’s 1.02 billion people, including our countrymen, “who are considered poor, hungry and food-insecure–amid current economic challenges.”
On the part of the Philippines, Yap said the Arroyo administration has been stepping up the implementation of its FIELDS program to provide relief to tens of thousands of devastated agriculture and fisheries stakeholders, help offset the typhoon-induced production losses, and put the government’s food security and sufficiency goals back on track.
FIELDS, which enumerates the six areas where government support is being focused on under the President’s food security and sufficiency agenda, stands for Fertilizers, Irrigation and other rural infrastructure like farm-to-market roads (FMRs), Extension services and education for farmers, Loans, Dryers and other postharvest facilities, and Seeds and other genetic materials.
Yap said the government is implementing a comprehensive aid package for areas severely affected by the twin calamities and giving priority to farmers hardest hit by Ondoy and Pepeng so they can recoup their losses and catch up with the summer or main crop. DA Press Office