GUAGUA, Pampanga — Municipal government of Guagua vowed to continuously support the town’s agriculture sector despite the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
In an interview, Mayor Dante Torres said the local government continues to implement various programs that will not only help farmers and fisher folks, but will ensure food security and sufficiency among Guaguaeños.
Among these, he said, is the Manukan sa Bakuran project wherein beneficiaries will be given 12 chicks that they will cultivate for possible reproduction.
“Under the program, the beneficiaries will raise the chicks until they lay eggs. Once they hatched their eggs, each beneficiary will then pay back five chicks to the municipal government. We will collect these chicks and will give those to other beneficiaries. In addition, we will also provide a cage and feeds. This way, we can ensure the sustainability of our program,” Torres said.
Aside from that, the mayor said they also provided monggo to augment the income of farmers during the dry season.
“One of our problems here is the lack of irrigation. That is why in order to help our farmers, we decided to put up our own communal irrigation. I am also planning to talk with the director of the Department of Agriculture (DA) to ask for a solar irrigation where our people can get water,” he said.
In addition, the municipal government also partnered with the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) for the Palayaman Plus program, wherein PhilRice will introduce new varieties of rice to the farmers to increase their yield.
Torres also called on local government units to buy palay to farmers at a higher price than the National Food Authority.
“Since my assumption of office, we also conduct carabao dispersal every year, because I want Guagua to be one of the dairy corridors of Central Luzon,” Torres said.
The local chief executive also mentioned his plan to put up a Bagsakan Center where small farmers can sell their produce and earn income to buy what they need.
“We are also working on a memorandum of agreement with the Pampanga State Agricultural University (PSAU) to open agriculture technology and fishery courses at the Guagua Community College (GCC).
Torres said this will be a ladderized course. After studying at GCC, students can go to PSAU to finish a bachelor’s degree.
To complement this, the town is also eyeing to put up its own research facility.
“All these efforts are geared towards going back to basics. At the same time, these programs are part of ensuring food security, which is one of the priority programs of the national government,” he said.
Guagua town is 60% agricultural. It has around six to seven farmer groups and associations.