Piñol: I'll bring agro-tourism to Cebu
Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Emmanuel “Manny” Piñol is looking at introducing agro-tourism in Cebu province as a long-term solution to alleviate the lives of farmers and fishermen.
Piñol, during his first official visit to Cebu, told reporters yesterday that this program suits Cebu as it has been one of the mostly-visited provinces with its several beautiful spots made as tourist attractions.
“I am looking at packaging agro-tourism in Cebu province. Agriculture development right now will be geared towards the tourism industry in Cebu,” he told reporters yesterday during his ocular visit to Carmen town.
He vowed to return to Cebu to see to it that the Agricultural Training Institute personnel will be facilitating capability trainings to farmers in Carmen and in other localities in Cebu.
Piñol, however, said local agriculturists have to ascertain first the main product mostly needed in the tourism industry in Cebu and that they have to consult farmers whether the identified products are attainable on their part before providing technical assistance for them.
He suggested that farmers and fishermen’s groups may develop greenhouse technology to produce high-quality vegetables that may be distributed to local five-star hotels.
“Hopefully, we can make Cebu into a major agricultural production area in spite of its image that it has already urbanized and has lesser agricultural lands,” he said.
With all the initial plans cited, he, however, said a master plan has to be formulated to come up with clearer strategies towards achieving the “new agro-tourism paradigm” by following the model in Aklan province, where this program has been implemented.
These were the plans he shared to the local media yesterday when he made a sudden visit to Carmen, Cebu, a task the president has given him following the severe flooding that hit the fifth class municipality.
Cebu Provincial Agriculturist Dr. Roldan Saragena said the initial count of damage in crops and fisheries in five towns, including Carmen, in northern Cebu summed up to over P3 million.
These flood-damaged localities that include Catmon, Borbon, Liloan and Consolacion were severely affected by the heavy rains brought by the recent low pressure area over the weekend.
The partial summary report collated from the municipal agriculture offices showed that the damage in crops reached to P2.675 million while P333,000 was accounted for the fisheries side, he said.
Prior to his Carmen visit, Piñol dropped by DA-7 office in Mandaue City, addressing the officials and staff of the regional agency.
One of the highlights of his visit was the forum attended by hundreds of farmers and fishermen at the covered court of the Carmen National High School, where he was joined by Carmen town officials and regional directors and executives.
The forum served as an avenue for affected farmers and fishermen in Carmen to air out their sentiments, while Piñol offered solutions and suggestions in consultation with the local executives and officials.