Growing our food

It is at this time of the year, when the rains come in torrents, that the cost of foodstuff hit the roof. Baguio vegetables are particularly vulnerable to flooded highways. Chicken and other livestock don’t do too well in the continuous rainy weather so prices go up too.

There was a time when there were efforts to plant the same Baguio vegetables in the highlands of Quezon. I have seen the farms and was amazed at how well the cabbage and pechay among others have taken to the Quezon hillsides.

Then agriculture secretary Art Yap supported the vegetable farmers by constructing a “bagsakan” market close by. Wholesalers and even institutional buyers like hotels and restaurants, buy the vegetables fresh from the farms.

 Art also had a plan to put up a string of refrigerated warehouses so that farmers can keep their produce fresh. Succeeding agriculture secretaries didn’t follow through. Providing modern logistics of bringing our food from farm to Metro Manila kitchens is a great idea. Maybe the food we lose in transit can ease the hunger of many Filipinos.

Poor logistics is one more reason why the cost of food in Metro Manila is higher than it should be. Not only must farmers deal with spoilage along the way, they also have to deal with kotong cops along the MacArthur Highway. This is why the TPLEX is welcome to them. All they must pay for now is the prescribed toll.

Still, the idea of developing the Quezon highlands as an alternative vegetable growing site should be vigorously pursued. I heard nothing more about it even if the last agriculture secretary was from Quezon and the one who actually showed me the place.

There are other things we should be worried about our food supply. Rafael D. Guerrero III, Ph.D., an academician with the National Academy of Science and Technology, wrote me to provide data on our aquaculture sector.

“I fully agree with your analysis that food prices in our country are going up because of the lack of supply and our increasing population. I wish to share with you the following information re:  our fisheries production.

“As in agriculture, our fisheries production is also on the decline. The statistics show that from 2011 to 2016, our fisheries production had an average -2.5 percent decrease from 4,355,792 metric tons to 4,355,792 mt. 

“More alarming is that our aquaculture production which contributes more than 70 percent to our fisheries production, declined by an average -4.33 percent for the same period from 2,608,200 mt to 2,200,913 mt.

“In the Comprehensive National Integrated Fisheries Development Plan for 2006-2025 of the Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, it was indicated that there will be a deficit of 585,538 mt of fish in the country even with an average growth rate 6.6 percent for fisheries in 2025.”

I also heard from a farmer who lamented the problem of agricultural financing. He is not a typical farmer, well to do and financially sophisticated, yet he is complaining.

“Today’s column really hit hard and I wanted to thank you for bringing the funding problem to light.

“I am a farm manager who swallowed the government’s line in 1972 that the country ‘needs farmers’. Now, at 63 I still grow sugarcane. They say that this is a sunset industry and that’s fine with me because I have run the race and, modesty aside, have managed to do pretty well.

“You touched on some issues that need more highlighting, and that’s why I write. The entire Panay and Negros regions have suffered drastic shortages in farm labor, resulting in the inability of farmers to cultivate and harvest rice and sugarcane.

“This is the third successive year that sugar production has greatly dropped. This may not show in industry figures that are masked to benefit technical smuggling, i.e. traders making a killing by shuffling ‘export’ and ‘local’ stocks, but that’s another issue.

“It’s said that this labor shortage may be due to the availability of higher paying jobs elsewhere and that’s a good thing. But its dire consequence is the decline in rice and sugar, at least in Panay where I am from.

“One solution is mechanization, and a drive through the countryside will reveal several Kubota or Yanmar rice harvesters, owned and operated by entrepreneurs with capital.

“It’s not that easy for sugarcane. Labor costs have risen so steeply that one must mechanize or die. A Thai or Indian combine harvester costs approximately P15M, while Australian or European units go for P40-50M.  

“Our planters’ group heard about the funds you described, ostensibly available through the DA/ SRA/LBP, and we applied for financing for combines, tractors, and equipment. Well, we have been dancing the dance since May and are still wading through a morass of sometimes conflicting requirements. 

“On the brink of receiving LBP funds, we were informed that funds were frozen because the program was ‘undergoing monitoring and observation’ somewhere in Luzon. WTF?!  

“Skeptical of success and desperate for funds, I applied for an equipment lease at my personal ‘suki’ bank. Sadly clueless about agriculture, they processed it nevertheless, but neither I, nor my group, is any closer to seeing the money.

“At this rate we are already too late to obtain any equipment for the next harvest season. If this is what happens to us with our personnel and other resources, what about the smaller farmers for sugarcane, or food crops?

“A simple mini tractor with attachments costs only P600-800K, but entrepreneurs who can hardly compute break-even point don’t stand a chance of obtaining funds.

“It’s so frustrating, but thank you for bringing it up because at least we know that we’re not alone. Our country’s food security is well and truly screwed.”

We should stop appointing politicians at the agriculture department. Look for this generation’s Paeng Salas or our future generations are indeed screwed.

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is bchancogmail.com. Follow him on Twitter “@boochanco".