|
Archives
February 1-15, 2000
Farmers' kids abandoning
agriculture
Tarlac City - With children of farmers
leaving farms for lucrative, non-agricultural economic
activities, the country's food security is being placed
at great risk, according to Agrarian Reform secretary
Horacio Morales.
Morales, who was a guest in a forum at
the Tarlac state University here Thursaday, said proverty
drives children of Filipino farmers into leaving farming
for lucrative work mostly in urban centers. He said
the blame could be put partly on farmer parents who
encourage their children to pursue non-agricultural
work because of hardship in tilling the farms.
Morales said the trend has "very
practical implications" particulrly on President
Estrada's food security program. "If none of the
farmers' children decides to cultivate land himself
or herself, the possibility is high that the land will
be sold. And if these are sold, they are likely to be
converted into other uses," he said. This poses
a problem on the succession of cultivators as the average
age of land reform beneficiaries is already 50. Citing
studies made by the Department of Agrarian reform, Morales
said the age issue was a factor in 24cpercent of violations
of the agrarian reform law. According to him, the President
had expressed concern about the extent of land conversion
in the country. "He (Mr. Estrada) knows that it
has compromised our ability to produce enough rice and
othe rbasic crops for our people. Experts have found
that we have breached the minimum agricultural land
required for food and fed production," Morales
said.
He said the "urbanization" of
the farmers' children also means the loss of farmers'
skills and knowledge. There will be no transfer of valuable
resources to the next generation considering that few
young people today know how to tend fields and care
for farm animals. "In the long run, we could end
up having young generation that does not know how food
is produced and does not care about the lives of our
food producers," he said.
He added: "They would join the ranks
of peope, young and old, who could not care less (if)
the fruits we eat are produced using chemicals that
destroy the soil (or) that the beef we eat come from
ranches that displace thousands of farmers from their
land (and) the pork we eat come from piggeries that
throw waste into our rivers."
Morales said this bleak future for the
country's agricultural sector has prompted the DAR to
launch a program to encourage the participation of the
youth in agriculture and agrarian reform. The program,
entitled Agrarian Reform Volunteer Program, call sfor
the fielding of University of the Philippines students,
faculty and alumni to 72 agrarian reform communities
in 32 provinces. The volunteers will provide free legal,
medical and dental ervices to land reform beneficiaries.
"Those who have the appropriate
knowledge and skills in agribusiness, community organizing,
and financial and human resources management, (please)
share them with our food producers," he said.He
said the program would be expanded to include other
state universities and colleges in the country.
(Adopted article by Russell Arador, Philippine Daily
Inquirer, 8 February 2000) 
February 1-15 2000 Articles: ::
BAR
integrates DA R&D action plans
::
Meeting
on proposed institutional development program (IDP)
framework held
::
DA
units identify top five R&D commodities
::
Urban agriculture RDE network established
::
Farmers'
kids abandoning agriculture
::
First APEC workshop on agricultural technology transfer
and training
::
Some practical tips: why character counts
::
BAR's senior project adviser attends international meeting
on biosafety
::: More February 2000 articles :::
|
