Sen. Cynthia Villar, chairwoman of the Senate agriculture and food committee, pushed yesterday for the strengthening of the agricultural insurance program to complement measures aimed at reducing damage brought about by climate change in the country’s food security and rice self-sufficiency.
“Problems due to climate change are realities that we Filipinos have been facing, particularly in recent years when extreme weather conditions such as super typhoons, massive flooding, El Nino and La Nina phenomena, among others, have been causing death and destruction on our country,’’ Villar said.
“We definitely need to develop adaptive measures and strategies. Climate-resilient varieties of rice, corn and other crops as well as pioneering procedures and advanced technologies are already being developed and used. But that is not enough. Strengthening agricultural insurance will definitely complement other preventive measures,” she added.
Villar made this assessment during the Policy Roundtable on “Improving the Agricultural Insurance Program to Enhance Resilience to Climate Change in Southeast Asia” initiated by the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) held at Ascott Hotel, Makati City. (Mario B. Casayuran)