AGRARIAN Reform (DAR) Secretary Bernie F. Cruz is inviting various farmers’ groups to join the DAR and discuss with them their project that may bring down rice prices to around P20 per kilo.
“We invite them to join our project and discuss with them the details, so we can serve our country and the people,” Cruz said.
It will be recalled that the DAR conducted a press conference last June 6, 2022, where it announced its plan to submit a proposal to President-elect Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. for a project called “Programang Benteng Bigas sa Mamamayan” (PBBM) under the “Mega Farm” project.
“The “Mega Farm” is a cluster of contiguous farms that are consolidated to form a sizeable plantation capable of producing a large volume of farm products to meet the demands of consumers,” Cruz said.
Cruz, the proponent of the project, said the concept of the mega-farms is to consolidate small farm lots into mega-farms for rice production.
“From the studies, we conducted in the mega-farms project, we found out that not only is the P20-a-kilo rice achievable, but it will also be profitable for our agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs),” Cruz said.
As to the concerns of other farmers’ groups, Cruz said that the DAR, through the Mega Farm project is pushing for the provision of subsidies to augment the cost of the production inputs of the farmers.
Cruz said the project needs the full support from the national government: “It is integrated with values of land tenure security, adoption of modern and mechanized farming practices and farmer entrepreneurship, and holistic support services by the government with the participation of the local and foreign investors.”
“Other farmers’ concerns can be inputted into the DAR’s proposal before this will be presented to the President-elect,” Cruz said.
Under the Mega Farm project, DAR is proposing the initial 150,000 hectares of rice land under the coverage of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) and its adjacent small farm lots.
According to studies made by the DAR, the 150,000-hectare can produce an average of 142 cavans of rice per hectare per cropping season. This translates to a gain of P76,501.00 annually for ARBs.
