Hindi malayo na makamit ng bansa ang pagiging rice self sufficient sa tulong na rin ng bagong lagdang RA 11953 o New Agrarian Emancipation Act.
Ayon kay House Speaker Martin Romualdez, magbibigay daan ang paglaya ng mga magsasaka mula sa pagkakautang para mas mapataas ang produksyon ng bigas.
Umaasa ang House leader na mula sa kasalukuyang 60 to 70 cavans ay mapataas pa ng mga magsasaka ang kanilang ani.
“I have a strong feeling that the new law would pave the way for our farmers to produce more rice, which is our basic staple, and other crops that they grow in between rice planting. Now that our farmers will soon be free of debt, I hope that they will be able to increase their produce to at least 100 50-kilo bags per hectare, from the present 60 to 70 cavans. But of course, the government will have to help along the way,” ani Romualdez.
Apela naman nito sa Department of Agrarian Reform, Department of Agriculture, National Irrigation Authority at iba pang ahensya, na sabayan ito ng pagbibigay suporta sa mga magsasaka gaya ng patubig, kagamitan at iba pang farm input.
“…it is important that we are there, our concerned agencies are there on the ground, to assist them. Irrigation is as important as credit and farm inputs in increasing the farmers’ produce. Without irrigation, our rice farming sector will not be able to improve from 60-70 cavans per hectare,” saad ng mambabatas.
Dagdag pa ni Romualdez na dapat i-monitor ng pamahalaan ang kada ARB na sakop ng bagong batas at alamin kung paano pa sila matutulungan para sa ikatatagumpay ng programa
“Since they have the exact number, which is 610,054 tilling 1.173 million hectares, I am assuming that these agencies know them. So let us check on them every now and then to ask them what assistance they need, how are they doing. This is President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s version of his father’s Tenant Emancipation Law, Presidential Decree No. 27, one of the first issuances of President Marcos Sr. which liberated farmers from the stranglehold of landowners. Fifty-one years later, we are trying to free them from debt and other things that hobble them. Let us try out best to succeed,” sabi pa ng House Speaker.| ulat ni Kathleen Jean Forbes
