Senate body wants 5-year extension of AFMA funding support

The Senate committee on agriculture is in favor of extending for another five years the funding support for the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) agriculture and fisheries modernization program.

Committee chairman Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr. has sponsored Senate Bill 2677, which amends Sec. 112 of Republic Act 8435 or the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act (AFMA) so that the mandated appropriation support will be extended by another five years or until 2010.

AFMA was enacted in 1997 and implemented in 1999. As mandated by law, funding for the modernization of the agriculture and fisheries sector should be provided until 2005.

Magsaysay, who chairs both the Senate committee on agriculture and the Congressional Oversight Committee on Agricultural and Fisheries Modernization (COCAFM), said the lack of government resources and minimal private sector investments in agriculture have hampered the full implementation of the law.

"AFMA’s implementation was hampered by serious funding constraints. When its implementation was commenced in 1999, two years after its enactment, a meager P9.95 billion was granted; P11.68 billion in 2000; P11.38 billion in 2001 and P11.057 billion in 2002," Magsaysay said.

As of August this year, funding for AFMA totaled only P4.02 billion, he said. "AFMA, as mandated by law, was supposed to get an initial budget appropriation of P20 billion in the first year of its implementation and P17 billion yearly thereafter for six years," Magsaysay said.

The DA has also been seeking for the extension of the funding support for AFMA.

The DA and the farmers view AFMA as a "safety net" which could help farmers cope with trade liberalization caused by the country’s entry to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Among the salient provisions of the law include the improvement of credit delivery for farmers and fisherfolks, improvement of research and development and funding for the acquisition of modern farm equipment.