CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY: The new leadership of the Department of Agriculture in Northern Mindanao (DA-10) has vowed to continue existing programs and recalibrate sustainable and long-term projects for the farmers, especially with the prevailing El Niño phenomenon. In a media briefing on Monday, newly appointed DA-10 Executive Director Jose Apollo Pacamalan said the region's current information system must be improved immediately to address issues both in the fields and the business side of farming. "With an active information system, we can identify which part of the region still has enough rainfall and which areas do not have, so we can preposition buffer stocks of seeds or farm inputs," he said. In the current setup, Pacamalan said farmers and other concerned parties have to wait for the end of the dry season before they can engage in rehabilitation and support. An advanced agriculture information system, he said, will regularly link farmers with markets where they can directly sell their harvests. Pacamal an assumed office on Monday, succeeding former Executive Director Carlene Collado. In his first day in office, DA-11 distributed PHP3,000 each to 158 farmers in Kibawe and Kitaotao towns in Bukidnon as part of its fuel subsidy assistance program. Bukidnon farmers also received fuel discount cards totaling PHP474,000 from the agency during the Bagong Pilipinas Town Hall meeting. Eligible farmers must be registered in the System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture and own functional machinery and equipment, either individually or through an association. The equipment should be listed in the Agricultural Biosystems Engineering Management Information System. Source: Philippines News Agency
