The
Department of Agriculture (DA) is looking into the possibility of implementing
"block farming" in all levels of agricultural land to improve food
production and inclusive growth.
Block farming is the combining of small farms into one big farm.
Department of Agriculture Undersecretary Segfredo Serrano said during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Food Security Week and High Level Policy Dialogue on Food Security and the Blue Economy that programs like block farming will help local stakeholders, particularly the farmers, participate in the country's economic growth.
Although it has always been a "challenge to cover everybody", Serrano said the "overall objective" of the government is still inclusivity.
To do this, he said local government units must ensure that "small stakeholders" are included in the process of economic growth through coordinated programs with concerned agencies, such as block farming.
The program, which just began this month, makes sure that farmers profit more from their small lands. By combining the small farms, the need for manpower is greatly reduced. The profit from hiring less hands and producing more are split evenly among the small-scale farmers.
Serrano said this program was initiated because the sugar industry has "turned over itself".
"It used to be (that we) have plenty of big farms but now, we have something like 75 percent of sugar farms are small. Most of these are agrarian reform beneficiaries," he added.
He said the coverage of block farming "has been limited but pretty much encouraging in terms of performance and indicators of success".
"We intend to support this all over the country," Serrano said.
The mandate of the department is not just farmers, he said, adding that there are also landless workers in farms, including those in far-flung areas, which need the assistance of the agriculture department.
These challenges all the more highlight the "necessity to be able to converge and coordinate with all government agencies, particularly with those government agencies (that would) reach up to the local government level," Serrano noted.
This year's APEC theme of inclusive growth highlights the need for all sectors to be involved in boosting the economy. (PNA/PCOO News Release)
Block farming is the combining of small farms into one big farm.
Department of Agriculture Undersecretary Segfredo Serrano said during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Food Security Week and High Level Policy Dialogue on Food Security and the Blue Economy that programs like block farming will help local stakeholders, particularly the farmers, participate in the country's economic growth.
Although it has always been a "challenge to cover everybody", Serrano said the "overall objective" of the government is still inclusivity.
To do this, he said local government units must ensure that "small stakeholders" are included in the process of economic growth through coordinated programs with concerned agencies, such as block farming.
The program, which just began this month, makes sure that farmers profit more from their small lands. By combining the small farms, the need for manpower is greatly reduced. The profit from hiring less hands and producing more are split evenly among the small-scale farmers.
Serrano said this program was initiated because the sugar industry has "turned over itself".
"It used to be (that we) have plenty of big farms but now, we have something like 75 percent of sugar farms are small. Most of these are agrarian reform beneficiaries," he added.
He said the coverage of block farming "has been limited but pretty much encouraging in terms of performance and indicators of success".
"We intend to support this all over the country," Serrano said.
The mandate of the department is not just farmers, he said, adding that there are also landless workers in farms, including those in far-flung areas, which need the assistance of the agriculture department.
These challenges all the more highlight the "necessity to be able to converge and coordinate with all government agencies, particularly with those government agencies (that would) reach up to the local government level," Serrano noted.
This year's APEC theme of inclusive growth highlights the need for all sectors to be involved in boosting the economy. (PNA/PCOO News Release)
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