THE Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) will ask the assistance of Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol in addressing the challenges mainly on mechanization and market integration hounding farmers in Negros Occidental.
Piñol will visit Negros Occidental Thursday, September 28.
Before the project distribution and dialogues with farmers and sugar industry stakeholders, Piñol is expected to meet with Provincial Government officials.
Provincial Agriculturist Japhet Masculino Wednesday said they will lobby to the Agriculture chief more farm mechanization support for farmers in the province.
Masculino said through mechanization, which is one of the priority programs of Piñol, farmers are equipped to efficiently reduce production cost and improve productivity and profitability.
“Mechanization addresses the issue on the depleting number of farm laborers. It would cut the labor requirement as one of the biggest components of farmers’ production cost,” he added.
Another concern Masculino would like to raise with Piñol is the need for market integration among local farmers.
He pointed out that during big trade fairs and exhibitions outside the province, big buyers would normally ask "how much can you supply?"
This means there is a need to gather local producers and bring together their products to meet the required volume, Masculino said.
"The Department of Agriculture (DA) maybe could further help us boost production of our farmers and look for potential buyers of their products,” Masculino said, adding that access to market has been one of the challenges the province continues to address.
Earlier this month, the Provincial Government launched the Farmers Market sa Kapitolyo mainly aimed at removing middlemen in the supply chain to increase the farmers’ income.
Masculino said they are pushing to have a data on the agricultural products hugely produced in the province on a certain period.
With the help of the DA, these products could then be linked to sure buyers, he said.
“We are optimistic that the Secretary would listen to these concerns and provide concrete recommendations and solutions," he added.
Masculino pointed out that with the growing number of tourists coming to province, food requirement will also increase.
“We just have to make our farmers more capable of producing and integrate the market for them,” he added.
The two-day visit of Piñol in the province is part of the agency's "Biyaheng Bukid" program.
Thousands of farmers and fisherfolk as well as sugar planters, millers, and workers will also raise their concerns to the DA chief.
Aside from the project distribution and dialogues in Ilog, Bago City and Bacolod City, Piñol will also visit various agriculture-related projects in the province, including the Rice Processing Center and Integrated Correctional Agricultural Technology Center in Barangay Tabunan, Bago City.
