The Department of Agriculture (DA) is studying ways to further improve the local agri-fishery sector’s resiliency to natural calamities particularly as experts already project increasing onslaught of violent weather disturbances in the country due to climate change.
“We intend to move towards weather-based and area yield-based insurance products and to find ways to support other innovative initiatives that can better prepare farmers and fishers for natural calamities such as cooperative insurance systems and insurance fund pool schemes,” said DA Secretary Proceso Alcala.
He also cited significance of establishing an early warning system that can help farmers and fisherfolk prepare for calamities so damage to agricultural and fishery production can be lessened.
DA earlier commenced implementing several emergency quick turn-around initiatives for helping farmers and fisherfolk cope with successive onslaught of typhoons ‘Pedring’ and ‘Quiel’ this year.
Such initiatives include providing certified seeds and fingerlings, repairing damaged irrigation facilities and allocating in Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC) an initial P400 million which typhoon-affected farmers and fisherfolk can borrow for resuming respective production activities.
Earlier, government identified five strategies for its 2011-2016 Agriculture and Fisheries Credit Strategic Plan to better help the local agri-fishery sector.
PhilRice noted International Rice Research Institute and University of California at Davis discovered the Sub1 gene in the Indian rice variety FR13A.
Alcala said among such strategies is strengthening of agri-fishery credit guarantee and agricultural insurance programs. [PNA]
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