DA expands climate-resilient agriculture programs

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture is pushing for climate-resilient agricultural technologies and systems to ensure food security amid the continuing changing weather patterns that affect global food production.

Agriculture Secretary William Dar said extreme weather, widely considered as the “new normal,” will continue to impact on the country’s agriculture and fishery sectors and national food security.

Dar has ordered the expansion of the DA-adaptation and mitigation initiatives in agriculture strategy to municipal, provincial and regional levels to test climate-resilient agriculture programs.

“We need science-based and evidence-based options and actions that we can easily provide to all our stakeholders. The creation of more AMIA villages is one of the strategies that the DA is adopting to address the challenges of climate change,” Dar said.

AMIA villages are where climate-resilient agricultural programs are pilot-tested. Data collected from these villages will be used for scaling-up in areas with compatible profiles.

“We should provide farmers and fisherfolks and LGUs (local government units) weather information and advisories to optimize production and minimize losses,” he said.

DA’s Climate Resilient Agriculture Office is expected to provide strategic direction and oversight in the mobilization of resources and capacities towards achieving the agency’s climate change agenda.

Dar has likewise instructed various agencies to do their part to provide climate-resilient seed varieties to make farmers more productive and competitive.

The Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization was also tasked to provide farmers’ cooperatives and associations post-harvest facilities and other farm machineries to improve the coping ability of vulnerable communities.

The Agricultural Credit Policy Council will develop adaptation financing packages to suit the needs of vulnerable farmers, within and outside AMIA areas while the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. will insure beneficiaries and compensate them if and when the government’s adaptation interventions fail.

“It is high time for the PCIC to study and reformulate, if not develop totally new insurance packages, to cope with the changing times,” Dar said.

“The climate change initiatives should include clustering and consolidation of small and medium-sized farms to attain economies of scale. This will give our farmers greater bargaining power rather than be disadvantaged by unscrupulous traders,” he added.