Agriculture and the Mandanas Ruling: An Open Letter to the LGUs

A serious uptick in the budget for LGUs will be observed next year, due to the Mandanas Ruling. The landmark decision clarifies: “that the share from the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) of the local government units (LGUs) does not exclude other national taxes like customs duties.” (What is Mandanas ruling? | Constitutional Reform)

Based on documents found via a cursory Google search, the IRA, or as it has been renamed National Tax Allotment (NTA), will now be a whopping 959 Billion Pesos. (LOCAL BUDGET MEMORANDUM NO. 82 (dbm.gov.ph))

Senator Cynthia Villar drafted Senate Bill 113 (18th Congress - Senate Bill No. 1138 - Senate of the Philippines) to institutionalize a 10% budgetary allocation for programs concerning the Agriculture Sector. This is due to the fact that some of the functions from the National Government have been devolved to the LGUs as indicated in Executive Order 138 (20210601-EO-138-RRD.pdf (officialgazette.gov.ph))

In accordance to Republic Act 7160 (Republic Act No. 7160 | Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines), some of the functions that LGUs have to undertake are as follows:

Provinces:

  • Agricultural extension and on-site research services and facilities which include the prevention and control of plant and animal pests and diseases; dairy farms, livestock markets, animal breeding stations, and artificial insemination centers; and assistance in the organization of farmers and fishermen's cooperatives and other collective organizations, as well as the transfer of appropriate technology.

Municipalities

  • Agriculture extension, on-site research services and facilities related to agriculture and fishery activities related to dispersal of livestock, poultry, fingerlings and seedlings; operation of demonstration farms; improvement of local distribution channels, interbarangay irrigation systems; and enforcement of fishery laws

  • Fish ports

Barangays

  • Agricultural support services which include planting materials distribution system and operation of farm produce collection and buying stations

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Pardon my math, but 10% of 959 Billion is 95.9 billion (?) if the Senate Bill will be ratified and adopted. This means that there will be a massive influx of funds going to Agriculture programs.

This is now the part of the blog where my educated guesstimate/opinion/purview/analysis comes into the fore.

The problems that have been hampering growth in the sector are still the same ones..since I gained consciousness, namely:

  • Agricultural Tenancy for Workers (Job Security)

  • Marketing (Market Information. Price Stability, Quality of Produce hampering entry into more lucrative markets, lack of agency for individual small-hold farmers)

  • Agricultural Insurance

  • Widespread adoption of Agricultural Techniques and Technologies

And today, with the advent of Industry 4.0, new trials await our farmers, like:

  • Introduction to Digital Tools (e-commerce, banking)

  • Mechanization (Upkeep, Software Updates (!), Replacement of Farm Workers)

  • Utilization of IoT and other relatively new technologies (Weather sensors, Soil Sensors, Drones)

Our LGUs can play a big role in addressing all of these. Here are some of my suggestions:

  1. Creation of a Agricultural Data Officer position in LGUs, whose main function is to collect and collate farming data from their constituents. This will allow the Municipal/City/Provincial Agriculturist to make informed decisions using data gathered from the fields. Expansion of data sets to be gathered is recommended. Some of the data that should be included are:

    1. Localized weather patterns for localized cropping calendars

    2. Production data per farm, per town/city. This is so that Local Agriculturists can coordinate and project surplus and shortages of certain commodities. Farmers can plan their crop calendars accordingly. This will lead to less food wastage and price stability.

    3. Agricultural input utilization patterns (for LGUS to be able to procure in behalf of farmers critical inputs like seeds and fertilizers)

    4. Soil fertility status can be done on a barangay level, to aid Agriculturists in forwarding recommendations and amendments to ensure soil health and sustainability

    5. Water Utilization/Availability for irrigation. This can inform policy makers and the local agriculturist on how to improve access and delivery of water to existing and prospective farms.

    6. Subscription to Agricultural Insurance. This should be widely pushed given the advent of climate change and its effects on farming.

  2. Improvement of Marketing with the Local Agriculturist serving as a de facto agent for his/her constituents. Agriculturists can represent the local farmer groups/individual farmers in negotiations with corporate and institutional buyers. Agriculturist is aided by the data collected by the Agricultural Data Officer

  3. Improvement of Agricultural Practices using on-site and remote means of education. This will lead to better quality produce and will open up more markets for farmers. Training will also result into better utilization of the inputs, machines and other services that are provided by the LGU

  4. Establishment of Post-Harvest, value-adding and processing centers for each municipality/city., depending on the crop that is grown prevalently in a particular locality. This will give farmers access to better margins and perhaps the center can also act as a collator/agent for the produce, to be sold locally or to buyers from other areas.

  5. Enhanced training and education campaign on Industry 4.0. Farmers need to be kept abreast with the latest technologies, in order for them to be able to adapt to the shift from conventional marketplaces towards digital ones, and be able to give themselves agency at an individual level to be able to market their produce freely via these online tools.

Truly, a great resource will be downloaded into the hands of our Local Agriculturists. I have seen great Municipal Agriculturists turn the lives of their local farmers for the better, offering them stability and security, even during the time of the pandemic. I am hoping that their ilk will proliferate and that the funds earmarked for agriculture be utilized to its full extent for the benefit of..well..everyone.


AgricultureDax OlfindoFarming, Agriculture, PhilippinesComment