Legarda urges reforms in agri extension system

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Loren Legarda, chairman of the Senate committee on food and agriculture, is advocating for reforms in the agricultural extension system, saying the salaries of some 20,000 extension workers must be raised to boost food production in the light of grave natural disasters caused by climate change.

In a speech to the third National Agricultural, Fisheries, Forestry and Natural Resources Symposium at the Heritage Hotel in Manila, Legarda said agricultural extension work has been largely ineffective because of the failure to devolve resources along with responsibility to the local government units.

“Being unprepared and not knowing how to direct agricultural growth … the local government officials … could not be faulted if they were not given the proper guidance and advice in their decentralized responsibilities, and corresponding financial resources for the devolved functions,” said Legarda.

The lady senator called upon Congress to pass the Agricultural Extension bill that would reform the agricultural extension system, including the provision of more financial resources from the National Government to the LGUs to support agricultural extension work.

Under the proposed law, the National Government will shoulder the salaries of the local extension workers under a counterpart or matching scheme. The money that will be saved by the LGUs will be used for agricultural activities, such as the transportation for extension workers and other services.

Legarda said she would add a provision that would allocate strictly for the use of agriculture and fisheries five percent or P13.2 billion to 10 percent or P26.5 billion of the Internal Revenue Allotment for agricultural extension services.

“The bill will also give the local extension personnel the opportunity to have a promising career path. It will allow us to professionalize the extension services,” said Legarda.

“Agricultural extension services have to come up with strategies to help subsistence farmers in organizing themselves for commercializing their operations profitably. Agricultural extension services have to translate the concept of farmers’ participation into action, promoting a bottom-up approach in decision making, planning and program implementation,” she stressed.

She also said that farmers should be taught to address environmental concerns in the light of the terrible devastation and casualties wrought by typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng which have been attributed to global warming.

“There is no way for a profession like farming, which depends on nature, to ignore environmental concerns. Environ-ment-friendly measures must be adopted in agricultural activities and these are taught to the farmers through extension,” Legarda declared.