New dep’t for fisheries, aquatic resources pushed

MANILA – The creation of a separate Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources to institutionalize fisheries management areas using sciencebased methodologies is among the key proposals pushed at the Sulong Pilipinas 2019 Agribusiness Summit.

According to a news statement on Wednesday, Department of Agriculture Secretary William Dar assured that the creation of this new department and other recommendations to strengthen the Philippine agriculture sector will be presented to President Rodrigo Duterte for immediate action.

Other proposals include strengthening policies and enforcement of support pricing mechanisms on palay and crop buying, expanding the fertilization program in coconut-producing areas, providing assistance and incentives to support agricultural value chain, providing scholarships to entice the youth to participate in the agriculture, and establishing more learning sites for more farm commodities.

Also included are delivering easy access to credit, setting up of standard protocol on biosecurity measures, providing high-quality and disease-resistant varieties.

“Rest assured that the programs and plans of action proposed at the Sulong Pilipinas 2019 Agribusiness Summit will be guided by the principles of good governance, transparency, consultative engagement and, most importantly, with greater sense of urgency, as well as continue to create a much better narrative for Philippine agriculture,” Dar said.

Dar stressed the need to boost Philippine agriculture by making the sector more productive, competitive, sustainable, resilient, and inclusive.

The proposals are aligned with Dar’s eight paradigms of the “new thinking” for agriculture, which includes modernization and industrialization, among other crucial elements in sectoral transformation.

The Sulong Pilipinas Agribusiness Summit was held at SMX Convention Center in Lanang, Davao City on December 17 with over 650 participants from multilateral institutions, leaders of the agribusiness community and industry groups. ■