SEARCA presents Linking Farmers to Market project Inception Report to DA-BAR

9 December 2015

searca presents linking farmers to market project inception report to da bar 1

A significant part of the Philippine population engaged in agriculture is still categorized as poor despite the slowly thriving Philippine economy. This is caused by the subsistence mode of production employed by a majority of the farmers who are engaged in the production of traditional and low value crops such as rice, corn, and coconut. Said crops are planted in 79% of the arable land in the country.

With low income generated from traditional crops, there is a need to transform rice, corn, and coconut subsistence farms into viable commercial farms. This is an important area of concern that the project titled Linking Farmers to the Market: Towards Transforming Subsistence Farms to Commercial Farms seeks to examine. This 16-month project is funded by the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Agricultural Research (DA-BAR) and implemented by SEARCA’s Research and Development Department (RDD) in collaboration with the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics (DAAE) of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB).

Towards understanding how to change the limiting subsistence mode of production, the project will identify the state-of-the-art in market linkage as well as the constraints that complicate the linkage. Best practices in farm to market linkage will also be identified and benchmarked.

Dr. Prudenciano U. Gordoncillo explaining the details of the project

To provide more information on the project details and the activities to be undertaken as the project moves forward, Dr. Prudenciano U. Gordoncillo, Project Leader, presented the Project Inception Report to DA-BAR on 11 November 2015. Representing DA-BAR were Mr. Joel H. Lales and Mr. Jude Ray P. Laguna, Head and Executive Assistant, respectively, of the Planning and Program Development Division and Ms. Virginia L. Agcopra and Engr. Roberto Villa, BAR Technical Advisers. Together with Dr. Gordoncillo were Dr. Bessie M. Burgos and Carmen Nyhria G. Rogel, Program Head and Program Specialist, respectively, of SEARCA-RDD, and other members of the Project Team, Agribusiness-Marketing Specialist Ms. Nanette Aquino, and Research Assistants Ms. Anieluz C. Pastolero and Ms. Zeynna E. Balangue.

Due to the goal and nature of the project, DA-BAR stressed the importance of anchoring the sampling frame on poverty incidence. To be certain that the target respondents of the project are poor farmers of rice, corn, and coconut, the top producing areas of such crops and areas with the highest cases of poverty incidence would be determined. Furthermore, in line with the project objectives, the DA-BAR programs on Community-based Participatory Action Research (CPAR) and National Technology Commercialization (NTCP) will be assessed.