North Cotabato approves food security plan

GENERAL SANTOS CITY — North Cotabato, Central Mindanao’s top rice and corn producing province, has approved a provincial food security plan. Gov. Jesus N. Sacdalan said the province’s food security plan seeks to ensure not only rice sufficiency but continued surplus production in North Cotabato that could help provide for the needs of neighboring provinces. The North Cotabato Food Security Plan recommends that farmers be provided with certified seeds and fertilizer subsidy. It also calls for adequate national funding support for the improvement of river and communal irrigation systems, as well as national government intervention in the construction and establishment of drying and other post-harvest facilities in strategic locations. "This will be our contribution to the national effort on food security," Mr. Sacdalan said, adding the province’s food security plan will be pushed for inclusion in the National Food Security Plan. A National Food Security summit was held on Friday in Manila. Early this week, North Cotabato conducted a provincial food security conference in Kidapawan City, where major issues have been identified. Among these are the high cost of production inputs, particularly certified seeds and fertilizers, and inefficient irrigation facilities which prevent further increases in food production levels. The lack of post-harvest facilities for drying and warehousing, and poor market transport system was also identified as major concerns. "While current rice production levels in the province are sufficient to supply the food requirements of the people of North Cotabato, we are committed to helping provide affordable food to other provinces as well," Mr. Sacdalan said. North Cotabato was the top rice producer in Region XII last year, harvesting 323,150 metric tons from 87,902 hectares. It was also the leading corn producer in the region last year, posting a harvest of 602,641 metric tons from 142,419 hectares of corn land. The province was also ranked 9th among the country’s rice producers while being ranked 10th in terms of hectarage. - BusinessWorld