DA sends NorCot farmers to Papua New Guinea to start demo farm

KIDAPAWAN CITY – At least 22 farmers from North Cotabato would be sent to Papua New Guinea (PNG) to work in the 100-hectare rice demonstration farm that will soon rise once the Duterte administration inks a final deal with the PNG government, Agriculture Secretary Manny Pinol said.The farmers, Pinol said, would come from his hometown in M’lang, North Cotabato. They would fly to PNG in April to start the development of the demo farm, which is located within the compound of a university of the Seventh Day Adventist in Port Moresby.The secretary explained he has already discussed the issue with his younger brother, M’lang municipal vice-mayor Joselito Pinol, as to the list of farmers who would be sent to PNG.During their stay in PNG, each farmer will receive a monthly salary of P25 thousand, including free meal and housing allowances.On March 7, Pinol will lead a delegation to finalize a bilateral agreement with his counterpart in PNG.This, he stressed, will establish stronger agricultural and fisheries cooperation between the Philippines and the PNG.Also, Pinol ensured that his rice program will ensure food sufficiency for Filipinos even beyond 2020, especially so that the country’s population is growing by 1.9 percent per annum. This rice program will ensure our future. As I have explained to the President, the country is growing by 1.9 percent per annum. With this rate, we might 200 million 50 years from now. Now that we’re at 103 million, it has become a difficulty feeding our people. Our land area is only 4.9 million hectares, said Pinol in an interview over Catholic-run DXND.The PNG, he explained, has so much potential in agriculture. Despite PNG’s total land area of 46 million hectares, only 400 hectares are planted to rice.According to Pinol, it was the government of PNG that sought help from the Philippines to develop their rice industry. The people in PNG were told that planting rice in their area is not possible, but we found out that there are a few industries that control their rice industry. They import rice. Could you imagine that a kilo of rice in PNG is equivalent to P100 per kilo?, he said.He explained that under the proposed bilateral agreement, Filipino companies would lease PNG lands where they would plant rice to supply the national requirement of the country, which is estimated at 400,000 metric tons.Any excess production, the secretary said, would be shipped back to the Philippines as PNG rice exports. Which do you prefer? We import rice from Thailand and Vietnam that only the traders in those countries would benefit from our money or we buy the products of Filipino farmers in PNG? he asked.Pinol added that the Philippine government should consider outsourcing its rice supply from PNG rather than rely on imports from Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, and other countries in Asia-Pacific.