Department of Agriculture Secretary William Dar has urged all sectors to help promote the campaign versus hunger and poverty, and stressed the need to increase food production in the country.
At the launching of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund-Rice Farmers Financial Assistance in Pampanga that was livestreamed via Facebook, Dar said the efforts of the outgoing administration must be sustained beyond the elections.
The national and local elections have just been concluded, “but we in the agriculture sector remain campaigning against hunger and poverty,” Dar said in Filipino.
Dar also warned about the looming food crisis in the country, noting that with the tripling of prices of fertilizers, the country may fail to secure an adequate supply of input products and food supply.
“Even if you have money, if there is nowhere to buy, that will be a problem. That’s the campaign we now do — to increase the harvest and income of our farmers and fishers,” he added.
Dar assured there will be sufficient assistance from the national government through the existing Rice Tariffication Law, under which the DA has been allotted billions of pesos for farmers’ aid, with exceeding collections still allotted for subsidy.