NextGen Day

CITY OF CAGAYAN DE ORO – Two presidential contenders that visited this city and sections of Northern Mindanao revealed their proposals to reduce rice prices and farm inputs, as well as providing roadmaps for modernizing the country’s agriculture industry.

Former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., widely known as BBM, said his goal to decrease the price of rice to PHP20 per kilo will be accomplished gradually during his first “face-to-face” news briefing on Tuesday afternoon.

It would not happen within a year, according to Marcos, because the idea is contingent on a number of conditions, including decreased production costs.

“It’ll take a long time since we’ll have to rebuild the entire agricultural value chain. It starts with R&D (research and development), just as it does with livestock for raisers and boats for fishermen — the same is true for (rice) farmers “he stated

Marcos has stated that he wishes to restart the “Masagana 99” program, which was first implemented in the 1970s by his father and namesake.

Dr. Edgardo Quisumbing, the program’s previous deputy implementer, presented Masagana 99 as a solution to the extreme rice shortage caused by infestation and natural catastrophes in a 2020 online discussion conducted by the University of the Philippines Los Baos’ College of Agriculture.

In the same conference, former Agriculture Secretary Domingo Panganiban explained that the program failed because small farmers were not given adequate attention, and government agriculture professionals were replaced with non-agriculturists.

In a separate press conference, former Defense Secretary Norberto Gonzales said he would look into the advances that allowed neighboring Southeast Asian countries to more efficiently use their resources to produce rice at cheaper costs.

Farmers in neighboring nations plant rice in locations with plentiful natural water sources, as well as flood-prone areas, according to Gonzales.

“However, we have similar (geographical and agricultural) characteristics with these countries, so we need to undertake additional research,” Gonzales added.

Gonzales mentioned the Agusan Marsh in Mindanao, which provides an untapped water supply that may be used to irrigate rice farms.

Gonzales also intends to repair and grow more mangrove trees, considering them as an important component of the food cycle that benefits both the ecosystem and agriculture indirectly.

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