“Naniniwala talaga ako sa “No Farmer, No Food” kasi tayo ang dahilan kung bakit may handa sa bawat hapagkainan ng sambayanang Pilipino,” said Cagayan Valley Farmer-Director and Regional Agricultural and Fishery Council (RAFC) Chairperson Dante Tobias.
Hand-in-hand with Cagayan Valley Regional Executive Director Narciso Edillo, Tobias led the Department of Agriculture-Regional Field Office (DA-RFO) II’s open house on May 23, 2023 in Tuguegarao, Cagayan.
The activity served as the culmination of the DA’s Farmers’ and Fisherfolk’s Month celebration, which involved the designation of RAFC Chairpersons as the Farmer-Directors of DA-RFOs for the whole month of May.
In his opening message, Dir. Edillo encouraged all the farmers and fishers present to partake in the Farm and Fisheries Clustering and Consolidation (F2C2) Program. This will allow them to receive centralized benefits from the DA, such as farm input distribution and market linkage establishment.
“Sana sa araw na ito ng pagpupugay namin sa inyo ay may nakuha kayong konting aral. Pagtibayin natin ang ating mga value chain para madagdagan ang ating kita sa pamamagitan ng pagproseso. Sana rin ay makasali kayo sa mga kooperatiba o magparegister sa RSBSA for centralized benefits,” Edillo added.
More than 1,000 participants from the AFCs, local government units, schools/universities, and DA Offices joined the whole-day program, which involved the awarding and recognition of Good Agricultural Practices-certified farms, Animal Welfare Act of 1998-compliant animal facilities, and African Swine Fever-free municipalities, including those municipalities that upgraded from Red to Pink Zone.
The program also featured the oath-taking ceremony of newly elected officers of the F2C2 Program and the ceremonial signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on Patronizing Local and/or Farmer Cooperatives and Associations’ (FCA) Products in serving food or distributing tokens during government events and activities. The MOA is the result of the policy resolution passed by the Cagayan Valley RAFC.
Aside from these, on-the-spot dish gardening and fruit and vegetable carving contests were held. A whole-day trade fair was also arranged, with various booths offering FCA products and the DA-RFO II Operating Units distributing seeds/seedlings and providing assistance on civil society organization accreditation.
The Farmers’ and Fisherfolk Month is celebrated every May by virtue of Presidential Proclamation No. 33, series of 1989 to recognize the invaluable contributions of the Filipino farmers and fishers to nation-building. As part of this celebration, the Farmer-Director Program of PCAF is also institutionalized, wherein the RAFC Chairpersons assume the role of Farmer-Directors of the DA-RFOs. | JCL
